Hilltoppers defeat Milford 6-4 for Sectional Championship

[June 13, 2021]  Friday afternoon at Veteran’s Park in Mount Pulaski was the setting for yet another exciting Hilltopper baseball game with the Sectional Championship on the line.

With freshman right-handed pitcher Landon Smith on the mound, the Hilltoppers took the field with confidence against the Bearcats from Milford. Smith started the game with a strikeout of the leadoff hitter and quickly retired the no. 2 and no. 3 hitters on fly balls, throwing just a dozen pitches in total.

Landon Smith tossed a complete game for the Hilltoppers versus Milford.

The Hilltoppers were anxious to start their half of the first inning, and they did not disappoint the large crowd cheering them on. A.J. Bailey liked the second pitch and sent it sailing out to center field for a base hit. Bailey then stole second, moved to third on an error by the catcher, and scored on a bunt single by Evan Cooper. After Drew Martin drew a walk, Jackson Fricke stepped to the plate to deliver a sacrifice fly, scoring Cooper. Cooper had scooted around the bases easily by stealing second and taking third on a wild pitch. The Bearcats were falling apart early and the Hilltoppers rarely waste an opportunity to score. One more costly mistake by the Bearcats starting pitcher, Sawyer Laffoon, put another Hilltopper on base. Landon Smith was hit by a pitch and he trotted down to first base. Grant Davis then hit a fielder’s choice to second base and Martin came racing home for a Hilltoppers 3-0 lead. The Bearcats would escape the inning without further damage, but the three early runs were enough to get the MP players and fans fired up.

Grant Davis is the vacuum cleaner at first base for the Hilltoppers.

With one out in the second inning, the Bearcats smacked a double and a single. A groundout to first base allowed the Bearcats to come home with their first run of the game. Trey Totheroh then singled to right and the Bearcats had another run. Smith would get a strikeout to end the inning and the Hilltoppers were hanging on to a 3-2 lead.

The Bearcats started the bottom half of the second inning with a new pitcher, Adin Portwood took the mound in relief of Laffoon. He faced the top of the order for Mount Pulaski and recorded strikeouts of Bailey and Cooper and then got Martin to pop out to the first baseman.

After a quick and quiet third inning by both teams, the Bearcats tied the game in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Portwood.

The game was tied 3-3 until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Gavin Smith led off the Hilltoppers sixth inning with a walk and he advanced to second on the sacrifice bunt by Garrett Fitzpatrick. Lucas Kuhlman then crushed a triple to deep right field, scoring Gavin Smith with the go-ahead run. Bailey then smacked a triple to right field and Kuhlman came home to score. After Cooper was hit by a pitch, Martin was issued a free pass and the bases were loaded with Hilltoppers. Fricke hit a fielder’s choice to score Bailey and Mount Pulaski had taken over the lead, 6-3 now the score. Portwood struck out Landon Smith to end the Hilltoppers sixth inning.

Jackson Fricke greets Landon Smith coming off the mound in sixth inning action versus the Bearcats.

Landon Smith, who was determined to go the distance, took the mound for Mount Pulaski in the seventh inning. A quick strikeout of Portwood was a good start for the young hurler. Totheroh’s triple to right field breathed new life into the Bearcats, but after Gavin Smith made a nice catch in center for the second out and held the runner at third, the Hilltoppers were in the driver’s seat. A walk and an error were just a slight hiccup, delaying the Hilltoppers celebration by just a few minutes. Totheroh was able to score from third on the error, but Smith got Aaron Banning to pop out to first to end the game. First baseman Grant Davis threw his glove in the air after the catch, and the celebration was underway.

A meeting of the minds on the mound for the stellar Mount Pulaski infield.

Sectional Champions ~ The Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers

The Hilltoppers clinch the Sectional Championship with a 6-4 win over Milford.

Landon Smith, a freshman pitching in a sectional championship game, gets the win. He threw 102 pitches on the day. He allowed four runs, only two were earned, on seven hits. He struck out four batters and walked one. He had only pitched nine innings this season in his high school career prior to going the distance Friday versus Milford. His calm demeanor on the mound, as he mowed through the Bearcats lineup, set the tone for the Hilltoppers and gave the entire team the confidence they needed to get the win. There was an occasional fist pump and a little emotion shown, like when he struck out Max Cook to end the Bearcats sixth inning, but other than that he worked quietly and diligently versus a tough Milford team.

Whoa, don't come home just yet, signals Grant Davis to the runner at third.

What Landon Smith did as a freshman on the mound for Mount Pulaski was truly amazing. He spoke after the win like a seasoned veteran.

“First off, going through my mind, I knew we just had to go out here and play ball like it wasn’t even the postseason,” said Smith. “We just needed to keep playing, like we’ve been doing this whole season. To prepare for this game and any game, we just put 100 percent in during practice. We just don’t give up. And the work is not done for us either.”

Talking with Mount Pulaski Head Baseball Coach Joel Washko, who has guided the team for eight years now, never gets old in these moments. “I am just really proud of these guys,” began Washko. “It’s the second time in school history for baseball to win a sectional. It’s a big deal.”

The 2004 Hilltoppers team won a sectional championship.

“It was kind of like two years ago where we had the lead and a couple things didn’t go our way in the last inning, but this time it was a different result,” continued Washko. “That is something we’ve talked about since that happened. We wanted to get to this point again and this time I told them, a year ago before everything happened, I said, ‘We’re gonna get to the sectional final this year and we’re gonna win it this time.’ Well, that didn’t happen, but a year later it did.”

Covid, of course, canceled the 2020 high school baseball season completely, delaying the Hilltoppers goal by a year.

“These kids have worked really hard for this, to be in these games and to win these games,” said Washko.

As far as the incredible performance by Landon Smith, Washko added, “I told him before the game, I said, ‘You’re the right guy.’ I was 100 percent confident in him. I knew he wouldn’t get rattled. I knew he would go out there and throw strikes and give us a chance, and he did. They (Bearcats) put the bat on the ball, but he minimized damage and just did a great job. You don’t see a freshman throwing in sectional championship games. And he only threw nine innings heading into the game, so it’s not like he’s a guy that’s thrown a ton this year. He’s that type of kid, where we knew if we put him out there, he’s gonna compete and throw strikes and give us a shot, and he did.”

Offensively, the Hilltoppers got the runs they needed in a couple innings.

“The bats came alive when we really needed them at the end,” said Washko. “Lucas Kuhlman and A.J. Bailey both had huge hits. That was big, getting three runs instead of just one in the bottom of the sixth inning. I am sure that built Landon’s confidence even more heading into the last inning. That was huge.”

The Hilltoppers had eight hits versus Milford.

A.J. Bailey led the Mount Pulaski offense with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Bailey also scored two runs and drove in one run.

Evan Cooper, Drew Martin, Grant Davis, Gavin Smith and Lucas Kuhlman each had hits for Mount Pulaski.

Mount Pulaski improves to 20-1 on the season.

The Hilltoppers will play Kewanee (Wethersfield) in the Super-Sectional on Monday at 4:00 p.m. at Duffy Bass Field on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.

[Teena Lowery]