The #7 seeded ICC baseball team will open Region 24 tournament play on Wednesday, May 18 at 4pm against #2 seeded Lincoln Land at the Corn Crib in Normal. The Cougars are playing well have and have put things together the last couple of weeks, winning seven of their last ten and will look to carry that momentum into the tournament.
"Our offense has been really strong the last couple of weeks," head coach
Brett Kelley said. "We've got a lot of guys who are swinging the bat well and our pitching staff has steadily improved so we'll look for good performances from them. The guys are excited to play so we'll be ready."
Freshman
Coltin Quagliano (Kewanee-Wethersfield) has been a stellar lead-off hitter for the Cougars this season. He has a .423 batting average to go along with a .459 on-base percentage and makes things happen when he gets on base. He's scored 47 runs, has 35 RBI, and pounded 19 doubles so far. Sophomore
Brody Reed (Washington HS) also has been consistent with a .459 OBP and .361 batting average while scoring 42 runs and bringing in 25 RBI.
Ben Nofsinger (Peoria Christian HS) provides the power for ICC with a school record 19 home runs this season while batting .347 with an .827 slugging percentage.
On the mound,
Travis Lutz (Limestone HS) has pitched well down the stretch, averaging 8 strikeouts/9 innings.
Garrett Peterson (Eureka HS) and
Bryce Brecklin (Washington HS) have also been steady for the Cougars.
Lincoln Land comes into the tourney with a 38-15 record and took the M-WAC series from ICC back on April 9-10.
If the Cougars win their 4pm game on Wednesday, they will play Thursday, May 19 at 1pm against the #3 Parkland vs. #6 Lewis & Clark winner. If ICC loses to LLCC, they will play at 7pm on Wednesday, May 19. All games will be shown on the Heartland Hawks website at https://heartlandhawks.com/coverage or fans can follow on Gamechanger.
The winner of the Region Tourney will advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series on May 28-June 4 in Enid, OK.
A full tourney bracket can be found
here.
