PEORIA — Lawson Alwan sent a screaming soaring blast over the right field fence that carried the Peoria Notre Dame baseball program to heights it hadn't reached in a decade.
The left-handed hitting junior catcher came to the plate with Notre Dame trailing in the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday, and belted a no-doubt two-run homer over the wall off a 2-1 pitch from righty reliever Miles Hoops.
Arm raised and pumping in triumph as he rounded first base on his home field, Alwan celebrated the go-ahead blow in an Irish 4-3 comeback victory over a gritty Canton team in the Class 2A Notre Dame Regional.
"The moment I hit it I knew it was gone," Alwan said of his fifth home run this season. "I watched it go and go, raised my arm and thought, 'They aren't coming back from this.' "
2024 IHSA baseball brackets:Peoria-area postseason schedules, scores and pairings
Three outs later in the top of the seventh, Notre Dame was jumping in celebration between home plate and the mound, and gathering for team photos with the championship plaque.
Notre Dame (20-10) moves on to face Spring Valley Hall at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Chillicothe Sectional semifinals at Illinois Valley Central.
"I had flushed an at-bat earlier, struck out, and I wasn't happy about it," said Alwan, a fullback/outside linebacker on Notre Dame's football team. "I went up there in the sixth thinking, 'Just hit the ball hard, get a run home.'
"This means so much to all of us. When I was a freshman we won five games. Now we win a regional championship for the first time in 10 years, it's just awesome."
A Canton lead, an Irish rally
Canton rode senior left-hander Sam Perry through five innings, during which he allowed one earned run on 99 pitches.
The Little Giants (12-18) broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth with a go-ahead run after the first two hitters were out. Perry hit a hard one-hop grounder to shortstop that hit the cut of the infield grass, changed direction and handcuffed shortstop Bryton Blackford.
Freshman Kash Van Houten then chased home courtesy-runner Jameson Frame for a 3-2 lead when he smoked a two-out double into the right-center gap.
Hoops, who started at third for Canton and delivered three hits in the game, took the hill for the sixth and Alwan's heroics followed.
Blackford opened the bottom of the sixth when he chopped an infield single on a 20-footer in front of third base. Zach Joseph followed with a fielder's choice, and Alwan's homer set the stage for a celebration.
Notre Dame right-hander Jack Livengood closed out a complete-game, 102-pitch outing in which he struck out nine and allowed one earned run on six hits.
Peoria baseball:These 16 high school baseball players have emerged as sluggers in 2024
"The first two games we've felt a little pressure, were a little tight," Notre Dame coach Jon Lowry said. "I think we played very poorly, but found a way to win. We still haven't played the game that we can. But every time Lawson comes to the plate it's going to be exciting. He either hits it 20 feet or hits it out. You never know.
"Two years ago this team won eight games. These kids don't know how to win yet. They've never experienced it until now. So we just want to keep it going."
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
Most Popular
Comments / 0