Hononegah baseball on a roll, sets up baseball showdown with Boylan

Harlem climbed into the NIC-10 baseball race by handing Belvidere North its only two conference losses last week.

The Huskies were one game out of first. Then they played four games in five days against Boylan and Hononegah. It wasn’t pretty.

“You have to have pitching depth,” Harlem coach Scott McCloy said after an 18-0 loss to Hononegah on Friday. “We didn’t.”

More: Hononegah goes off-script in key NIC-10 baseball game against Freeport

Harlem (11-10, 7-5 NIC-10) was outscored 49-5 in those four games, including 34-1 by Hononegah.

Hononegah (18-5, 12-0) stayed tied with Boylan for first in pursuit of its fifth consecutive NIC-10 title. Pitching depth is a big reason why — even though the Indians lost the league’s best pitcher before the year began. Jackson Stahl was the ace of Hononegah’s Class 4A sectional championship team as a freshman last year but hasn’t thrown a pitch as a sophomore because of injuries.

“That was scary at the beginning of the year, knowing our No. 1 guy was gone, but our guys have really stepped up,” said Hononegah DH Drake Broege, who had two hits and three RBIs against Harlem.

In an era when pitching depth is at an all-time low at most high schools, Hononegah coach Matt Simpson says his team has 15 players who can take the mound. Hononegah has thrown seven shutouts in its 12 conference games and twice allowed only one run.

“Our depth at pitching now is as deep as it has ever been,” Simpson said. “We’re not as top heavy with guys who are going to throw a shutout so all we have to do is get one and we’re going to be all right. But they’ve all figured out their approach on the mound matters and they don’t have to have their best stuff every day to be able to get people out.

“It’s such a simple game, but it’s still hard to execute those things that you know are going to make you successful. Our pitchers make a living by pounding the strike zone and not beating themselves.”

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Friday was Ian Blankenship’s turn. The first year starter struck out five in three scoreless innings in a game reduced to four innings by the 15-run rule. Harlem had a chance to load the bases with two outs in the first, but Blankenship battled back from a 3-1 count with two perfect strikes to end the inning.

“I know I have good stuff," Blankenship said. "I am confident. I know I can do my job. The main thing is hitting my spots. Coach Simpson harps on that a lot. As soon as I hit my spots, I know everything is going to be good.”

Hononegah now plays Boylan (16-7, 12-0) with the NIC-10 title on the line Monday and Wednesday — although Belvidere North (12-8, 10-2) still has a shot. North’s 10 wins are all against teams in the bottom half of the conference. The Blue Thunder finish with two games each against last year's co-champ Freeport, Hononegah and then Boylan.

The NIC-10 baseball title has come down to Boylan vs. Hononegah for most of the last quarter of a century.

“Ever since I’ve played, it seems like they have always been top,” said Boylan coach Matt Weber, who pitched the Titans to a state runner-up finish 21 years ago. “That’s why the rivalry has been special: it’s been a long time. It’s the two games that every kid from both schools marks down on the calendar at the beginning of the year.”

Boylan has won 10 league titles since 2000. Hononegah, despite being strong almost every season, won only three league titles from 1996 to 2018.

But Hononegah has taken its program to a new level the last five years, going 79-5 in the conference, placing fourth in the state in 2021 and winning only its second sectional title last year. Boylan, despite being 59-7 in the NIC-10 the last four years, has been a close second fiddle.

“It’s exciting,” Hononegah second baseman Evan Sayles, who had three hits and three RBIs against Harlem, said looking forward to the Boylan series. “A lot of fans come out. It’s a hyped game. I think we’re going to keep rolling.”

“It’s just tradition,” Broege added. “We want to keep that going. Winning’s fun.”

NIC-10 standings with 2 weeks to go

School, Conf, Overall

• Hononegah, 12-0, 18-5
• Boylan, 12-0, 16-7
• Belvidere North, 10-2, 12-8
• Freeport, 7-5, 17-8
• Harlem, 7-5, 11-10
• Guilford, 6-6, 8-11
• Belvidere, 4-8, 6-16-1
• East, 2-10, 2-10
• Jefferson, 0-12, 1-18
• Auburn, 0-12, 0-15

Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City .

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Hononegah baseball on a roll, sets up baseball showdown with Boylan