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HS baseball: Undefeated Carlinville, Gillespie and North Mac teams state-ranked in IHSA Class 2A poll

Staunton beats Litchfield and Auburn, Bunker Hill collects two wins

By JACKSON WILSON
Enquirer Democrat Reporter

One month down and three Macoupin County high school baseball teams are still perfect.

Carlinville, Gillespie and North Mac continued to streak and climb the Illinois High School Association Class 2A power rankings.

Staunton is up to six wins, but its perfect season is over following a stunning defeat.

In other action, Bunker Hill collected two victories and Greenfield-Northwestern ended a three-game slide.

Carlinville, Gillespie and North Mac ranked in Class 2A poll

According to Maxpreps, Carlinville, Gillespie and North Mac have all emerged as members of this week’s top 25 IHSA Class 2A poll.

Carlinville made its debut following a 12-7 Mar. 29 victory at Pawnee, then cracked the top ten after edging Sangamo powerhouse Williamsville 6-4 in extra frames Mar. 30. Henry Kufa went 5-for-5 with a pair of RBI and shut down the Bullets with two scoreless frames in relief of Ryenn Hart, sealing the deal once Carlinville erased a 3-0 lead that Williamsville had jumped out to in the bottom of the first. The Cavaliers are 5-0.

Gillespie, now 6-0, is closely behind in 11th. The Miners scored 10 runs in the bottom of the third and Bryce Buhs twirled a one-hit five-inning shutout to beat Metro-East Lutheran, 11-0, Mar. 27. The Miners maintained their torrid pace with a hard-fought 5-3 victory over Nokomis Mar. 29.

North Mac, 6-0, entered the 25th slot after stomping Lincolnwood in Raymond Mar. 27. The Panthers’ pitchers were a bit shaky, issuing 10 walks, but still managed to keep the Lancers scoreless until the bottom of the seventh, when the game was ultimately out of reach. North Mac outhit Lincolnwood, 13-2, and won the game, 9-1. Kaden Brown had three hits, including a triple, and scored four runs to back his own topsy-turvy pitching performance. Brown lasted four innings, walking eight and striking out seven Lancers. Drew Baines, Aiden Hatalla, Quinn Morrow, Owen Berle and Logan Hammann all contributed at least one RBI for the Panthers.

Staunton beats Litchfield and Auburn, Bunker Hill collects two wins

Staunton was in the state rankings’ hunt, but a 5-4 Mar. 29 home loss against a winless Calhoun squad removed the Bulldogs from the current conversation. Staunton bounced back and ended the month on a high note, beating Litchfield, 4-1, on the same field the next day. The Bulldogs dominated Auburn, 15-4, on the road 24 hours prior to the Calhoun upset. Staunton is 6-1 overall.

Bunker Hill also collected a pair of victories as of late. After beating Edinburg, 5-1, the Minutemen killed two birds with one stone, moving above .500 and picking up its first Gateway Metro Conference victory of the season at Metro-East Lutheran, 4-2, Mar. 30. Bunker Hill is 3-2 on the year.

Other action

In other action, Greenfield-Northwestern ended a three-game slide in a convincing manner. The Tigers clawed Pleasant Hill 21-11 Mar. 30 to improve to 4-4.

Southwestern, mainly the bats, went cold on a back-to-back road tour in Jerseyville and Jacksonville. The Birds fell to Jersey 2-0 Mar. 30 and Routt Catholic 7-1 Apr. 1, descending to 3-3.