Normal, Ill. - The #7 seeded ICC baseball team is one win away from playing for a Region 24 Championship after cruising to a 12-3 victory over #3 seed Parkland on Friday afternoon at the Corn Crib.  The Cougars won their third game in a row by taking control early and scoring in nearly every inning while pounding out fourteen hits on the afternoon.  ICC will now face Lincoln Land at 7pm Friday evening with the winner advancing to play Heartland in Saturday's championship.

ICC came out the aggressor in the opening inning as Brody Reed smacked a single and then scored on a Max Jones RBI double.  The Cougars plated three runs in the second on a Jacob Burge lead-off double, Chase Ulrich drew a walk and Zach Otten and Coltin Quagliano hit back-to-back RBI singles to take a 3-0 lead.  Ben Nofsinger added an RBI double as ICC went up 4-0.

In the top of the third after Josh Heyder reached on an error, Ulrich smacked another two-bagger as ICC led 5-0.  The Cobras plated two runs to draw to within 5-2 at the end of the third.

Nofsinger singled to start a one-out rally in the fourth followed by a Jones walk and Travis Lutz infield hit to load the bases.  Heyder was hit by a pitch to score one run and then Ulrich had an infield single that scored a run to go up 7-2.  Parkland answered with one run to make it 7-3 after four innings.

The Cougars continued to chase the Parkland pitchers, adding three more runs in the top of the fifth.  Quagliano led off with a single, followed by a Reed RBI double to center.  Nofsinger hit a hard grounder and reached on an error followed by a Jones walk that loaded the bases.  Burge and Heyder each walked to score two more runs giving ICC a 10-3 lead.

The Cougars added two more runs in the seventh on a Jones single, two walks and an error, and when Parkland was unable to score in the bottom half, the game ended. 

Lutz got the win, going seven innings while scattering seven hits and recording two strikeouts. 

Highlights:
Brody Reed  3-6, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, double
Chase Ulrich 2-3, 2 RBI, 1 run scored, double
Nofsinger 2-5, 2 runs scored, RBI, double
Coltin Quagliano 2-6
Josh Heyder 2 RBI
Zach Otten 1-4, 2 RBI
Max Jones 2-2, double
Jacob Burge 1-3, 2 runs scored, RBI, double

Next up:  ICC will face Lincoln Land at 7pm tonight with the winner advancing to Saturday's Region 24 Championship.