Sheppard, Oak Forest walk off with win

Updated: June 4, 2011 8:30PM

It was certainly fitting that a few minutes after the game, the sectional championship plaque was nestled in the hands of Bobby Sheppard as the Oak Forest senior assembled with his teammates for plenty of broad-smiled picture taking.

With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh and Tim Barry on first after being hit by a pitch, Sheppard ripped a one-out double to right field and Barry came around to score the winning run in the Class 3A Lincoln-Way West Sectional championship game Saturday.

With the 3-2 win over Joliet Catholic, Oak Forest (25-7) earned its first sectional title since 1985 and a spot in the Crestwood Supersectional at Standard Bank Stadium on Monday against Jones.

“It was pretty awesome,’’ Sheppard said. “I just knew I was going to come up with the big hit. I wasn’t doing too good at the plate so far, but I hung in there. I went with it to right field and that was it.’’

Oak Forest’s only two seniors combined for the run that ended a 26-year sectional title drought.

“I was so nervous,’’ Sheppard said of his thoughts as he rounded first base. “I was like ‘You better be scoring.’ He couldn’t pick it up out there. I was like, ‘Score, score.’ When I looked up, he was there.’’

As usual, junior righthander Kyle Funkhouser also was “there” for Oak Forest, striking out 11 in a complete-game victory.

“We’ve been kind of preaching about this game all year,’’ Funkhouser said. “We thought we had a good chance of being here. We ended up being here so we had to get it done. We had to win it.’’

“It was a great game all around,’’ Oak Forest coach Thad Gatton said. “Funkhouser battled. He kept us in the game. He’s a complete pitcher. He’s unbelievable.’’

The conditions didn’t help Funkhouser in the first. A wind-blown, bloop double led to a 1-0 Joliet Catholic lead that stood until the fifth.

“I didn’t think about that because I know we’re a good hitting team,’’ Funkhouser said. “I knew we’d score some runs. They came kind of late, but we got them.’’

Joliet Catholic starter Nate Searing was impressive in the first four innings, getting groundouts and yielding only two hits. But after back-to-back walks and an RBI single by Oak Forest’s John Zubek tied it 1-1, Joliet Catholic coach Jared Voss went to his bullpen.

Two more walks produced a 2-1 Oak Forest lead, which held up until a two-out RBI single by Joliet Catholic’s Adrian Nunez made it 2-2 in the top of the seventh.

Searing was 2-for-3 with a double and a run for Joliet Catholic (23-10).

“We left it all out there, there’s no doubt about it,’’ Voss said. “It’s sectional baseball. We had four good teams in here. It didn’t work out for us today.’’

It was a better ending for Oak Forest.

“I’m just so proud of the kids,’’ Gatton said. “Joliet Catholic is a program above and beyond everyone. They’ve been doing it for so long.’’

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