During Monday’s super-sectional round, the state’s 3A class narrowed down its field of potential champions to four: Waterloo, St. Laurence, Dixon, and Montini. On Friday, all four programs will make their way to Joliet’s Route 66 Stadium to play in the state’s semifinals – Waterloo will battle St. Laurence on one half, and Dixson and Montini will play in the other. The winners of both games will meet in Saturday’s championship tie and the losers will play a consolation contest in the afternoon.

Below, we’re breaking down each team and how all four of them got here.

WATERLOO VS. ST. LAURENCE

The Bulldogs (22-12) vs. the Vikings (33-5) – Friday, 10 a.m.

Waterloo: The Bulldogs have pitched their way to Joliet, reaching Route 66 Stadium as an unlikely No. 4 seed in the Salem Sectional, upsetting No. 1 seed Marion and No. 3 Carbondale along the way.

Here’s a little bit of evidence of the kind of pitching Waterloo has been benefiting from: the Bulldogs allowed two runs to Freeburg in their first game of the postseason and have yet to allow more in a single game since.

Heading this staff is junior Drake Downing and sophomore Dustin Crawford. The two righties have been heavily leaned on all spring and they both sport sub-2.00 ERAs. Downing has been Waterloo’s go-to arm, recording team-highs in innings pitched (65.1) and strikeouts (90). Crawford was the one who just turned in a clutch performance against Effingham in Monday’s super-sectional win, so it looks like Downing is going to be the arm tasked with squaring off against one state’s most productive offenses.

Offensively, Waterloo began the season running up scoreboards. They tallied 10 or more runs in eight of their first nine games but they’ve combined to do so just three times since. But, two of those 10-plus run games have come in these playoffs, so there’s some optimism that the offense is beginning to recenter at just the right time.

While Tyson Roedl typically sets the table, he’s backed up by the team’s best bat, statistically, this spring: senior Ty Kueper. Ty is hitting .409 this season with 11 doubles, both of which are the best on the team, and he also leads the team with 26 RBIs. You can find his brother, Trey, a few spots lower in the order, and he’s had a solid spring, too, hitting .295 with seven extra-base hits. Crawford actually operates in the middle of this lineup and he hits a spot in front of clean-up sophomore bopper Marcus Heusohn – a 6-foot, left-handed-hitting slugger who is hitting .298 in 2019 with five doubles and a team-high four home runs.

Waterloo can earn a win on Friday if the bottom half of their lineup performs like it did this past Monday. Spots six through nine in the order drove in six of the team’s 11 runs and tallied seven hits. More of that will allow the Bulldogs to keep pace with a terrific and deep offense. Though if Downing is his usual self, he might not need much help.

Their path to Joliet: As a No. 4 seed, Waterloo defeated Freeburg (12-2), Columbia (3-1), Marion (7-0), Carbondale (3-1), and Effingham (11-1) to earn their fifth trip to state, first since 2011’s third-place finish. The Bulldogs are still looking for their program’s first-ever state title, however.

St. Laurence: The Vikings won 35 games this spring, their first season within the 3A classification. They were reclassified ahead of this season by the IHSA, which instantaneously placed them among the class’ heavyweights, and they had to push past another perennial 3A contender, Joliet Catholic Academy, to back to the state tournament.

Looking at the field, I think it would be fair to call St. Laurence the heavy favorites to win the 3A title. Not only did they finish just a game behind St. Rita within the toughest conference in the state, the Chicago Catholic League – Blue, they have a few of Illinois’ best players inside their dugout, too. They’ve passed every test they’ve been handed so far, and the experience of this 2019 class might be enough to get them over the finish line in Joliet.

Senior backstop Matt McCormick, who was the 2018 PBR Illinois Player of the Year, looked just as dominant at the plate in the final season of his prep career. The West Virginia commit hit .414 with 12 doubles, a triple, and he slugged nine homers for the Vikings, which helped him drive in a team-high 49 runs. He also saw a little bit more time on the mound this spring in a high-leverage role, striking out 23 batters in his 18 innings of work, with a 1.56 ERA. He is one of the most naturally talented hitters in the Midwest, and he’s bound to make a big impact in the tournament.

Sophomore Vytas Valincius, a South Carolina recruit, hits right behind McCormick in the order and has already established himself to be one of the most lethal hitters in the region – maybe even the country. Valincius hit .417 this spring, his first full spring on varsity after dealing with an injury last season, and drove in 42 runs himself. He also collected 12 doubles and three homers, which has helped make the McCormick-Valincius tandem arguably the best in the state.

Look for seniors Jake Vera, Ryan Cummings, and Matt Dornbos to pull their weight offensively, as well as juniors Marc Babicz, Luke Montgomery, and Alex Gasbarro to fill out the rest of the order. It’s a loaded lineup without a real hole, so Waterloo is going to have be delicate to limit them to what they can.

On the mound, crafty junior lefty Chris Seropian has given St. Laurence the most innings (62.1), with 68 Ks in that stretch and has an ERA of 2.47, despite pitching in some of the biggest games this spring. Fellow 2020 classmate Matt Zahora has been used nearly as often as Seropian and his ERA is a sterling 1.52. These two are backed up on a staff that is also featuring a handful of reliable relievers, like McCormick, who can come in and finish things off.

St. Laurence has had a considerable amount of success in recent seasons, but they’ve yet to win it all at state in their program’s history. The combination of a sturdy set of seniors working in combination with dependable juniors and a couple underclassmen has given them the right concoction of ingredients to lift the 3A title on Saturday.

Their path to Joliet: St. Laurence, a No. 1 seed, sectional host, and the No. 3-ranked team on our Power 25, has defeated Morgan Park (15-0), Lemont (7-2), Morris (15-2), Joliet Catholic (5-4), and De La Salle (3-2) to reach the state tournament for the fourth time in their program’s history, though they’re still in search of their first-ever first-place finish.

MONTINI CATHOLIC VS. DIXON

The Broncos (21-11) vs. the Dukes (26-4) – Friday, 12 p.m.

Montini Catholic: About halfway through the regular season, Montini was in search of answers. Fresh off back-to-back losses to De La Salle, the Broncos were 8-8 overall but had been on the wrong end of a handful of lopsided losses in the first part of the season.

Well, since, they’ve gotten right. Outside of one-sided loss to Lane Tech in early May, the Broncos have been the ones bullying their opponents.

For example, they took it to Grayslake Central on Monday with a 10-0 victory in the super-sectional. Eastern Kentucky-committed senior shortstop Ryan Nelson slugged a grand slam in that game, too. And while Nelson hasn’t had a strong season by his own standards, he’s still one of the most dangerous threats on this team.

Sophomore lead-off man Antonie Harris has quickly become a player to watch closely this season. He’s hitting .405 atop Montini’s everyday lineup and has five doubles, four triples, and a home run this spring. He’s the energizer they’ll need on Friday.

Michael Sclafani, an uncommitted junior, has been a regular threat in the middle of this order. While it’s been on Harris to rile up the Broncos dugout, Sclafani has been the one giving him the green light home. He’s hitting .414 this season with 14 extra-base hits – including nine doubles and three homers. Sclafani has also been the most-used pitcher on the team. In his 55 innings of work, he has a 2.29 ERA and has struck out 72 batters in 2019, and walked just 22. He didn’t pitched against Grayslake Central, so he might be the one called on to deal with Dixon.

Filling out the rest of the rotation is Monday’s starter Michael Koszewski, another sub-3.00 ERA arm on this staff. However, if you were to name a weakness for Montini, it’d be the depth of this staff as a whole. Beyond Sclafani and Koszewski, the Broncos have received innings from a number of different pitchers, and the results have been okay – they’re at state after all. But they might have to hit their way to the title game if they want to slide by the Dukes.

Their path to Joliet: Montini Catholic, a No. 3 seed, defeated Westinghouse College Prep (15-0), Elmwood Park (10-0), St. Patrick (7-3), Ridgewood (11-1), and Grayslake Central (10-0) to earn their program's third trip to state in its history, seeking its first-ever title.

Dixon: Frankly, Dixon has been among the more underrated teams throughout this 2019 campaign. The Dukes haven’t lost since April 20 and are riding a 17-game win streak, playoffs included. They’ve won in a multitude of different ways, too. They’ve pitched to win, using their super-sectional, 1-0 win over Dunlap as an example. And they’ve also hit a ton over the length of this win streak.

Two Dukes to know prior to the noon game: Tucker Cole and Payton Lawrence. The two have combined for scintillating senior season in which they both hit .450, basically, which has helped Dixon churn out runs with regularity. Cole is a Southeastern CC-committed shortstop who hits in the three-spot for these Dukes and leads the team with four homers, while Lawrence is a two-way star who hits fifth and also operates as Dixon’s No. 1 arm. In fact, since he didn’t pitch in that narrow victory over Dunlap, Lawrence is likely going to be the one charged with facing the Broncos tomorrow.

Andrew Long probably won’t see the mound in the team’s first game, but he could be the pitcher tasked with the title game start, should the Dukes get by Montini. Long was responsible for shutting out a quality Dunlap team on Monday, allowing just five hits, one walk, striking out six in the clutch win. His 1.03 ERA is the lowest on the team, and offers Dixon the kind of depth any team needs if they want to hoist a state championship at the end of the season. He also hit .341 from the top of the order and will once again try and jump start the lineup again on Friday.

Really, it’s hard to find a hitter in this lineup that didn’t piece together at least a solid 2019 season for themselves. Finn Brandon, Dentrell McGlown, and Oscar Van Sickle all hit well above .300 this spring – and Van Sickle actually hit .383 with four doubles.

This is a well-rounded squad with the kind of formula we’ve seen carry teams to victory in Joliet before.

Their path to Joliet: As a No. 2 seed, Dixon defeated Sterling (5-4), Rochelle (8-2), Kaneland (13-3), Boylan Catholic (5-2), and Dunlap (1-0) to earn the first state tournament appearance in their program’s history.

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