Whips fall,, look to future

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An undercurrent of optimism accompanied Hampshire's frustration following its season-ending loss Monday.

The Whip-Purs saw their surprising postseason run come to a halt in a 6-1 loss to Illinois Valley Central in the Class 2A Rockford Supersectional at Road Ranger Stadium.

However, as the Grey Ghosts celebrated with their championship plaque following the game, Hampshire began looking ahead to the future as only two seniors will graduate from this year's team that continued the program's upward trend by capturing its first-ever sectional title.

"Going this far this year with such a young team, this gives us really high expectations for next year," Hampshire sophomore standout Ryan Burke said.

Added sophomore starting pitcher Kent Larson: "We're going to keep setting the bar higher and higher. Hopefully next year we can get a supersectional title, and who knows after that."

Hampshire (18-14) faced an uphill battle from the start when IVC (33-6) struck for a run in the top of the first inning off the southpaw Larson.

The Grey Ghosts added two more runs in the second when Billy Seiler led off with a triple into the right-center gap and scored on a groundout before Josh Parr belted an opposite-field solo home run over the fence in right center.

The opposite-field trend continued in the fourth when Chris Razo smashed an RBI double into the right-center gap off Larson to put IVC ahead 4-0.

"I left a couple pitches up in the air and they took advantage of that," Larson said. "They're a good team and they deserved the win today."

The Whip-Purs had a chance to make things interesting when they mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth.

Burke started the charge with a double to right field off Razo. After Zach Crinigan walked, Matt Kuefner delivered an RBI single to make the score 4-1.

Joe Moore then drew a walk to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but Tyler Bentley struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat.

"We started [the rally} with two outs and we knew we could hit (Razo)," Burke said. "But we just didn't get that one hit we needed with the bases loaded."

Hampshire did have other opportunities, but stranded runners in six out of seven innings and left nine men on base for the game.

Crinigan (2-for-3) and Burke (2-for-4) paced the six-hit attack for the Whips, who averaged 6.5 runs in four postseason games going into Monday's contest.

"I don't think our hitting fell off today, I think [IVC] just plain stopped us," Hampshire coach Steve Ream said. "They had good pitching, they had great defense and they hit the ball too. They just flat out shut us down."

Razo (7-1) earned the win by striking out seven and walking four in five innings before leaving with a groin injury. Sophomore Drasen Johnson came on in relief and retired six of the seven batters he faced in two innings.

Parr (2-for-4, 2 runs) and Razo (2-for-3) led the way at the plate for IVC, which advances to play the winner of today's game between Pinckneyville and Teutopolis in Friday's state semifinals in Joliet. The Grey Ghosts will be trying to add to their 2006 Class A state title this weekend.

Larson (6-3) struck out four and walked two in his four innings of work for the Whips. Junior Erik Chellberg came on in relief and surrendered a pair of runs on four hits in three innings.

Hampshire seniors Brandon Gehringer and Cameron Rath saw their high school careers come to an end with the loss, but the first seven hitters in the Whips' batting order Monday are all expected to return.

Ream couldn't help but be encouraged by his young team's progress this season. After breaking through for the program's first-ever regional title in 2007, Hampshire continued to move into uncharted waters this year by reaching its first-ever supersectional.

"[Our youth] doesn't mean we're going to automatically be back here next year," Ream said. "We know we have to improve in some areas, but to come out and play in this game was a great experience for the boys and it's only going to make them that much better next year.

"I'm not disappointed at all. Yeah, it would have been great to go Downstate, but considering what we've accomplished and where we've come from with a young squad, I'm happy as heck for these guys."