Hahn is on as Burlington advances

Burlington Central's Nick Hahn delivers a pitch against Kaneland.
(Michael Smart/Courier News)

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Burlington Central coach Kyle Nelson said every year his team’s main goal is to be playing its best baseball at the end of the season.

Consider that mission accomplished.

The third-seeded Rockets extended their win streak to 12 games with a 6-5 triumph against top-seeded Kaneland on Monday in the Class 3A Burlington Central Regional championship.

Sophomore Nick Hahn improved his pitching record to 11-0 with a gutsy performance on the mound. Meanwhile, freshman Tanner Scott, senior Bill Rodriguez and junior Austin Jarvis all clubbed home runs for the Rockets, who won their first regional crown since 2006 and fourth in the past seven years.

Although the seeds suggest the outcome was an upset, few teams have been playing as well as Central (24-6) over the past month. The Rockets advance to the Rochelle Sectional, where they’ll play Rock Island (25-12) in Thursday’s semifinal.

“We know we’re a good team, but we had to come out and show that we could win a regional,” Hahn said. “The guys definitely helped me out today and got me a lot of run support.”

Central avenged a 6-0 loss to the Knights in late March. Kaneland (23-13) set a school record for wins this season, but ultimately came up short in its quest to win its first regional title.

“They are obviously a really good team,” Nelson said. “For us to come through like that is huge for our program.”

With the score tied at 3, Central took the lead for good with a three-run rally in the top of the fifth.

Sam Klein started things with one out when he reached on a bunt single. That prompted a pitching change as the Knights summoned Steve Colombe in relief.

Scott followed Klein’s bunt with a grounder back to Colombe, who tried to force Klein at second but instead threw errantly into center field. The mistake proved costly when Jarvis smashed a three-run home run to right center, putting the Rockets ahead 6-3.

Kaneland answered in the bottom of the fifth when Jay Levita connected for his second homer of the game, this one a two-run blast to right-center that cut Central’s lead to one. However, the Knights came no closer as they stranded runners at second and third in the sixth before having their comeback hopes dashed on a game-ending 6-4-3 double play in the seventh.

Hahn was able to toss a complete game despite having to deal with a strong wind blowing out to right over the final four innings. He struck out five, walked three and surrendered nine hits.

“With the wind blowing out I just had to try to keep it down and keep it off speed because if they got it up it was probably going to go out,” Hahn said.

Central had little trouble taking advantage of the conditions, which changed drastically midway through the game when a cold front moved in from the north.

Scott drilled his ninth home run of the season when he connected for a two-run blast in relatively calm conditions in the top of the third to put the Rockets ahead 2-1.

Kaneland regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third, but Central bounced back in the fourth when Rodriguez sent a solo homer into the jet stream and over the right-field fence to tie the game at 3.

Jarvis (2-for-3) and Klein (2-for-4, 2 runs) led the offensive attack for the Rockets. Levita (2-for-3), Jake Fiedler (2-for-4) and Jeff Smith (2-for-3) paced the Knights.

Smith (6-2) took the loss, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out four in 4 1/3 innings.

“Both teams were smacking the ball out of the park today,” Kaneland coach Brian Aversa said. “That wind picked up in the fourth and there were just a couple pitches that were not in the right spot and they made us pay for it.”