GNW wins another baseball regional
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By Sherry Fraley
Sherry Fraley/Greene Prairie Press
Greenfield-Northwestern defeated Calhoun 4-2 on Saturday, May 20, in the Class 1A IHSA Regional to move on in the postseason. Front row, left to right: Griffin Rothe, Brock Bowman, Brett Bilbruck, Talon Albrecht, Kohen Vetter, and Brayden Roberts. Back row: Coach Jacob Lansaw, Coach Garry White, Coach Cary Lansaw, Garrett Costello, Kayden Roberts, Brody Reif, Wyatt Stuart, Maddax Coffey, Coach Jacob McEvers, and Coach John Goode. Parker McDowell was unavailable for Saturday’s game.
The Greenfield-Northwestern baseball program had never won a regional in school history until 2019. The Tigers have been on a mission since then to make up for the lack of plaques in the trophy case. With the 4-2 win over Calhoun on Saturday, May 20, the Tiger team has won four straight regional titles (2020 season canceled due to Covid-19).
Sherry Fraley/Greene Prairie Press
Talon Albrecht was on the mound for the Greenfield-Northwestern Tigers on Saturday in their regional win over Calhoun. Albrecht struck out ten batters on the day and pitched all seven innings.
Coach Jacob McEvers said, “This team has focused most of the season around winning a regional championship and I’m just proud they were able to accomplish that goal. We’ve had a few guys really lead us in what was noted as a rebuilding year by some outside of the program. Brett Bilbruck, our only senior, is a staple in the middle of our order and has done a great job leading the guys this spring.”
“I also want to give the utmost respect to Coach Longnecker and the Warriors. They had a good year, and obviously had their fun against us this year during the regular season,” McEvers continued. “After we were leading in all three of the games, and they walked us off two times, the Warriors were able to beat us in all three regular season match-ups. We were just fortunate to have a couple bounces go our way today. Coach Howard and the Carrollton Hawks didn’t make things easy on Wednesday either. They did a great job improving throughout the year and gave us everything we wanted to get to Saturday.”
Brody Reif was the man of the hour at the plate on Saturday, Reif hit one over the left field fence to tie up the score in the second inning and later would get credit for three RBI’s in the four run game.
“Brody is always working outside of practice, and it’s nice to see those extra swings pay off. Kohen Vetter and Wyatt Stuart each added two hits that were huge for us,” said McEvers.
Hurler on the mound for the Tigers was Talon Albrecht who struck out ten and walked one, pitching all seven innings.
“He struggled with a little command early, but made sure to save a little bit that not all guys have when it means the most in the seventh,” McEvers commented. “I’m very proud of the dedication he has to his craft and we’re just glad he’s wearing orange and black. I am also very thankful for the assistants that I have as they all play a huge role in game day. It’s nice when I get to sit on a bucket and watch those guys work. I am very proud of this group we have and we’re looking forward to what next week has in store for us.”
The Tigers face Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran on Thursday, May 25, at 4:30 p.m. in the Greenville sectional on the Greenville University baseball diamond.
