Oh, Henry! Brummel leads Pontiac to regional baseball championship
STANFORD — Having a lead before he threw his first pitch was something that proved quite beneficial for sophomore Henry Brummel. The Pontiac co-ace made that lead hold as he pitched Pontiac to 9-1 victory over Tremont to win the championship of the Class 2A Olympia Regional baseball tournament Monday.
“It felt great,” Brummel said of the early PTHS lead. “(I had) more confidence, being out there and able to throw strikes and let our defense work, it was great.”
The Indians gave Brummel a 1-0 lead with a two-out rally in the top of the game's initial frame. Logan Barnett coaxed a walk from Tremont starter David Smith and cleanup hitter Johnny Lenox lined a triple down the right field line, past a diving JT Kaiser, that plated Barnett.
Brummel took the ball with a lead and made sure that didn't change.
“That first run gave us a lot of confidence,” PTHS head coach Adam Lawrence said. “Their kid threw hard, he threw well, but we just grinded out at bats and just kept battling.”
It really appeared quite dominating, Brummel's effort on the bump. He retired the first seven Turks he faced, walked the eighth batter and then catcher Alex Trevino threw Alex Garcia, who drew the walk, out trying to steal second. Brummel then fanned Caleb Edwards in facing the minimum through three.
In fact, Brummel didn't give up his first base hit until Smith led off the Tremont fifth inning with a clean single to right. Pontiac had built a 5-0 lead by this time.
“I had the fastball, I was able to locate it,” Brummel said. “I got the slider in for a few strikes and I was able to lay the curveball up there a few times.”
While Brummel was having his way on the mound, his teammates were able to chip away at Smith. The lead grew to 2-0 with another tally in the third inning. Ninth-place batter Cam Fenton led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error on the play.
Michael Kuska grounded out to second to move Fenton to third and Trevino singled to deep short to drive in Fenton and make it 2-0.
The top of the order triggered as three-run rally in the fifth make it a 5-0 contest. Kuska singled with one out and Trevino doubled to put runners on second and third. Kuska scored on a wild pitch and Hunter Wilson, the courtesy runner for Trevino, took third before Barnett walked.
Brummel got a second-life opportunity and made the most of it when his foul pop up was dropped. Brummel lined the next pitch to center to score Wilson and Barnett.
The inning the Turks got their first hit was also the inning they scored their only run. Ryan Kaiser, the courtesy runner for Smith, the Tremont catcher, scored on a wild pitch before a Brummel punch out of TJ Connor.
The Indians got the run back, plus two more, in the sixth inning to keep the Turks, who came in as the top seed in the regional, in check.
Colin Gould smacked a two-base hit to lead off the inning and Tanner Legner walked. Both advanced on Fenton's sacrifice bunt that turned the lineup over. Kuska then singled to left to drive in Gould.
Legner was thrown out at the plate when he tried to score on a Trevino comebacker, but Barnett followed with a two-run single for an 8-1 advantage.
Tremont got to Brummel for a pair of two-out singles in the last of the sixth but the PTHS hurler got a lazy fly ball to Kuska to get out of any perceived trouble.
As if to put an exclamation point on the game, Brummel led off the Pontiac seventh with a two-base hit. Drew Wayman came on as the courtesy runner advanced to third when Peyton Cheek, pinch-hitting for Parker Francis, singled through the hole on the left side. Wayman scored when Gould grounded into a double play.
Brummel got a ground out to shortstop Lenox, recorded a strikeout and then hit a batter before inducing another groundout to Lenox to end the game and secure the regional championship plaque, the Tribe's first since 2016 when Pontiac lost in the sectional final.
“We kind of struggled to start this year,” Lenox said. “We strung together a few wins, got the board with a lot of runs against some really good pitchers.”
Brummel was in total command with his nine strikeouts while allowing just three hits and a walk. He did hit a batter but 64 of 99 pitches went for strikes.
“He was throwing strikes,” Lawrence said. “When he throws strikes and has his curveball or slider working, he's pretty good, pretty tough to beat. He did a great job.”
The effort from Brummel and the PTHS offense complemented each other as the Indians continue postseason play.
“We've improved a lot and came in here knowing what we could do,” Brummel said. We're getting hot at the right time.”
“I think we're playing the best we have all year,” added Lenox. “We're putting up good runs against good pitching and we really hadn't that all year, so it's really good to get hot at the right time.”
A quartet of Tribesmen led the Pontiac (14-13) offense with two hits apiece. Brummel had a double, single and two runs batted in while Trevino also had a double and single while driving in one run. Kuska had two hits and a run batted in and Fenton delivered two singles. Lenox had a triple and RBI and Gould doubled. Barnett had a base knock and two RBIs and Cheek and Legner each singled.
The win places Pontiac in the Millikin Sectional, which looks like an Illini Prairie Conference party as fellow conference rivals St. Joseph-Ogden and Monticello will also be there. Filling out the field will be Eureka, a 9-1 winner over El Paso-Gridley at the Eureka Regional on Monday. PTHS and St. Joe-Ogden play the first semifinal game Wednesday at 5 p.m. Monticello and Eureka square off on Thursday and the final is set for Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We had St. Joe circled, we were waiting for another rematch with them,” Lawrence said. “Logan (Barnett) didn't have his best stuff the first time we faced them, he gets to see them again.”
Pontiac lost 7-1 to the Spartans on their home field on April 21. PTHS also lost to Monticello (6-5) and Eureka (11-1), so there's a chance for redemption against two opponents. The Millikin Sectional winner will take on the winner of the Pleasant Plains Sectional at the Lincoln Land Supersectional at Springfield on May 30.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Oh, Henry! Brummel leads Pontiac to regional baseball championship
