By Sean Duncan

PEORIA ? Southern Illinois University has a good one coming its way with Carrollton right-hander Sammy Coonrod. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior was dominant Friday morning in leading Carrollton to an 8-4 victory over Tremont in the Class 1A state semifinals at O?Brien Field.

Long, athletic and loose, Coonrod threw a three-hitter to advance Carrollton (28-1-1) to the championship game Saturday at around 11 a.m. Coonrod (10-0) finished with 13 strikeouts, including six straight at one point, behind a fastball that sat at 88 mph and climbed as high as 91 in the first inning. Coonrod, who looks like he will see his velocity climb in the coming years, primarily used his fastball to overpower Tremont (20-9).

With high temperatures, Coonrod removed himself from the game with two outs in the seventh inning, giving way to his junior brother, Joey. Joey struck out the final batter on an 85 mph fastball.

?I just got tired,? said Coonrod, who walked three. ?I felt great the whole game except for that last batter.?

Carrollton is the favorite to win the Class 1A title, in large part because of Coonrod, and his junior brother Joey. Sammy entered Friday?s semifinal with 108 strikeouts and a 1.01 ERA in 55.1 innings. Joey, who should pitch in the championship game, is 9-0 with a 1.28 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 60.1 innings.

Coonrod cruised through five innings, allowing only one hit, before Tremont put a mini-scare into the Hawks when senior outfielder Tyler Risinger hit a grand slam to left field to make it 8-4. It was the first home run Coonrod had allowed this season.

?It was bound to happen with all the fastballs I was throwing,? Coonrod said. ?I was just going to throw fastballs until they started hitting it.?

Good philosophy.

Carrollton never trailed in this contest, and put the game out of reach with a four-run fourth inning that was punctuated by junior second baseman Mike Fraley?s three-run homer. At that point, the Hawks led 8-0. Fraley finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. First baseman Brenton Walls went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI for Carrollton, which is ensured its first state trophy in school history.

?The community is really excited,? said Carrollton coach Greg Puhlman. ?It couldn?t happen to a nicer group of kids. I?m so excited for these kids.?

Carrollton, located southwest of Springfield, is a school of 219 students, which is why Coonrod was so lightly recruited. Had Coonrod pitched in the Chicagoland area, he would?ve been one of the most coveted right-handers in the state.

In the other semifinal game:

Eastland 2, Goreville 1: Eastland scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to surprise the Blackcats in the second Class 1A semifinal game at O?Brien Field.

Goreville (23-15), which finished runner-up last year, seemed like it had the game under control behind its ace, 6-foot-6, 220-pound Nick Andros. But in the sixth, Eastland scrapped together two runs across thanks to two bunts ? one which was a hit, one an error ? a hit and the eventual game-winning run was scored when Tyler Giedd walked with the bases loaded,  making it 2-1.  Brad Dunlap also had a run-scoring single in the inning to tie it up.

Senior left-hander Jordan Blair (8-1) took care of the rest. Blair struck out the side in the seventh to send the Cougars into the championship game against Carrollton at around 11 am Saturday. Blair, who confounded Goreville with his breaking ball, pitched a complete game five-hitter with five strikeouts and no walks.

Eastland mustered eight hits against Andros (4-5), who is a Rend Lake JC recruit. Andros struck out eight and walked three. Senior catcher Dylan Stichter tallied two hits for Eastland (25-5), which is seeking its first state championship.

?Every time we came down here, we choked,? said senior outfielder Mack Byers. ?It?s great to finally get over the hump.?

Junior shortstop Alex Stout paced Goreville with two hits.