Normal, Ill - To be successful in the post-season at the junior college level, teams need their seasoned veterans to step up and their rookies to play fearlessly when it matters the most.  The ICC baseball team did just that on Thursday afternoon, riding Joe Nelan's (Metamora HS) career-best performance on the mound while pounding out fourteen hits to get a 7-6 win over Danville Area in the Region 24 Tournament at the Corn Crib.

The clutch hitting came from several bats as freshman Travis Lutz (Limestone HS) had a two-run homer while Coltin Quagliano (Kewanee-Wethersfield), Zach Otten (Limestone HS), Max Jones (Pekin HS), and Jake Burge (Tremont HS) each had multiple hits to keep the base paths busy.  Kaiden Rixner (Richwoods HS) picked up the save in the ninth, thanks to a game-saving catch from Otten in center field.  ICC advances to Friday's Final Four, where they will play at 3pm against either Parkland or Vincennes.

"This was a great team effort," ICC head coach Brett Kelley said.  "Nelan gave us the performance we needed and everyone was locked in from the time we arrived at the field.  Our guys really wanted to play on Friday and we're excited for the opportunity." 

Danville went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first but the Cougars answered with three runs in the top of the second as Jones singled and Lutz hit his two-run blast to left field.  Burge followed that up with a double to left and scored on an Otten RBI single putting ICC up 3-1.

Danville pulled to within 3-2 in the bottom of the third and eventually tied it at 3-3 in the fifth.  But ICC again responded, doing damage in the sixth inning as Lutz was hit by a pitch to start the rally.  Burge came up with his second double of the game, this time to right field to score Lutz.  Josh Heyder (Washington HS) kept things going as he reached on an error and Chase Ulrich walked to load the bases, setting things up for Quagliano.  The fiesty freshman singled to right field to score Burge to put the Cougars ahead 5-3.  

The Cougars were not done yet as Heyder alertly scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-3 and after a Nofsinger walk, Jones connected for a two-out RBI single that gave ICC a 7-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Nelan kept DACC scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings but ran into trouble in the eighth.  The Jaguars hit a double and a single to draw to within 7-4; ICC had a chance to get out of the inning but an error allowed another run to score to make it 7-5. DACC followed up with an RBI double to draw to within 7-6 before ICC got out of the inning with the narrow lead.

Rixner entered in the bottom of the ninth to close it but DACC made things interesting with a lead-off walk.  He then induced two fly-outs which were shagged by Otten in left field but the Jaguars drew another walk, putting runners at first and second with two outs.  On an 0-1 count, the DACC hitter smacked a dangerous fly ball to center, but Otten came through with a terrific catch to end any thoughts of a DACC comeback, allowing the Cougars to play another day.

Nelan went eight innings with three strikeouts, tossing 95 pitches (58 for strikes),  scattering eleven hits, and four earned runs to pick up the win.  Rixner threw 23 pitches (13 for strikes) to get the save.

Leaders:
Coltin Quagliano 2-5, RBI
Travis Lutz 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Zach Otten 2-4, RBI
Max Jones 3-5, RBI
Jake Burge 3-5, two doubles, RBI

Next up:  The Cougars advance to the Final Four on Friday, May 20, where they will play Parkland at 3pm at the Corn Crib in Normal.  

Thursday, May 19 Results
Heartland 7, Danville 0
Lincoln Land 5, Parkland 0
Illinois Central 7, Danville 6
Parkland 8, Vincennes 7 

Friday, May 20 Schedule
12pm:  Heartland vs. Lincoln Land
3pm: Illinois Central vs. Parkland
6pm:  Winner of 3pm Game vs. Loser of 12 pm Game