Normal, Ill. - All good things must come to an end. It's a versatile saying that's been around for quite some time. Unfortunately, 91 days after opening day, the 2023 ICC Baseball Season (23-34) came to an end, with the Cougars dropping a 10-7 game in the Region Tournament to Lincoln Land on Friday afternoon. ICC trailed by a mere 6-5 score going into the ninth inning, but the Loggers would score four in that ninth to take the win and eliminate the Cougars from the postseason. 

The game got off to an ideal start. Kaiser Quick and the ICC defense held the Loggers to a 1-2-3 first. From there, Kaleb Gauf wasted no time and hit a three-run home run on the first pitch of his at-bat, scoring both Jackson Powell (single) and Zach Otten (leadoff walk). 

Quick pitched another scoreless inning in the second as well, but this time, the Cougar bats were also held scoreless. In response, Lincoln Land fought back to tie the game by way of a bases-loaded hit by pitch and a two-run single. The Loggers weren't done, adding three more runs on an error and a two-run single to go from 3-0 to 6-3. 

Now, Lincoln Land would not relinquish that lead by game's end. However, the Cougar offense wasn't done quite yet. After Tyler Hansen led the inning off with a single, and Matt Evans walked to put a runner in scoring position, Riley McCallister doubled into the outfield to score both Hansen and Evans to make it a mere one-run game. 

At that point, the game was far from a pitchers' duel. After all, the two teams had combined for 11 runs through those first four innings. After that fourth inning - absolute pitchers' duel. With it being Cole Thomas on part of the Cougars, zero runs were scored on either side between innings five and eight. 

Thomas' quality pitching set up the Cougars to potentially get the win. In fact, a Camden Porter triple nearly allowed ICC to tie the game into the ninth, but he was stranded. Just a one run deficit (6-5) going into the ninth. 

One more big inning came for Lincoln Land as everything that could have gone right for the opposition did. The inning's first five batters for the Loggers all reached, including the first three having reached base on just one pitch. A bases-loaded walk and two-run error expanded the lead to four runs. On a somewhat unique play, the Cougar defense would record a double play as Evans made a remarkable diving catch just before crashing into the right field wall.  After the catch, he flipped the ball to nearby center fielder Otten who relayed to Beau Durbin at second base to pick off the Logger runner who had left second base on contact thinking the ball would not be caught.  A 10th Logger run did also score before the double play. 

The Cougars did everything in their power - literally - to make the comeback happen. Durbin and Josh Heyder launched back-to-back home runs (each on the at bat's first pitch), and Powell would double after those home runs to put a potential eighth run in scoring position and a ninth run at the plate. A foul tip strikeout would end the game and allow the Loggers to move on, and subsequently end ICC's 2023 season after 57 games.  Lincoln Land ended up defeating Parkland 21-8 in the nightcap to set up a Lincoln Land vs. Heartland matchup in Saturday's championship.  

HE SAID IT - HEAD COACH BRETT KELLEY
"Obviously, it's disappointing when you lose, but I thought the boys played really well, and we gave ourselves a chance. We were playing our best baseball at the end of the year, had some great performances in this tournament, and took Lincoln Land all the way down to the wire. I'm just really proud of the way the guys played this season."

2023 STATISTICAL LEADERS
Hitting
Batting Average | Beau Durbin | .370
OPS (On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage) | Josh Heyder | 1.203
Hits | Beau Durbin | 74
Home Runs | Josh Heyder | 18
Runs Batted In | Josh Heyder | 52
Walks | Zach Otten | 35
Hit by Pitches | Kaleb Gauf | 15
Stolen Bases | Luke Doty | 12

Pitching
Innings Pitched | Nick Hainline | 68.1
Starts | Nick Hainline | 12
Pitches Thrown | Nick Hainline | 1,132
Wins | Jake Jacek & Gavin Thompson | 4 each
Saves | Gavin Thompson | 2
Strikeouts | Nick Hainline | 69
Earned Run Average | Nick Hainline | 3.95
Batting Average Against | Gage Burdick | .184