***Dillon Price is a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.

Both Squads Fall to Sterling

Kewanee High School’s varsity baseball team started the week in Sterling on Monday, March 24, and lost 8-1. 

Junior Logan Peed took the mound for the Boilers, striking out two batters, allowing six hits and giving up three earned runs through four innings. 

The Boilers failed to get their bats going, only managing one hit from the bat of junior Griffin Hicks. 

Senior Lincoln Mason took the mound in relief, throwing two strikeouts while giving up two hits and two earned runs through two innings.

The Kewanee JV team hosted Sterling’s JV team and was defeated 21-2. The team managed four hits, with two from sophomore Jackson Price, but Sterling’s offense proved too strong for the Boilers.

Varsity Find Win Column vs. Princeville

On Tuesday, March 25, the Boilermakers hosted the Princeville Princes for the KHS home opener. Senior Dillon Price started on the mound for the Boilers, allowing five hits and four earned runs through five innings of work with three strikeouts.

Kewanee got off to a slow start, but the tides shifted as a two-run homer from senior Colson Welgat tied the game at four runs a side. Junior Brady Schiltz took the mound in relief, allowing five hits and three earned runs through two innings. 

Down three runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Boilers rallied and

put up four runs of their own, sealed by freshman Ace LaFollette’s walk-off hit by pitch to move in the winning run. 

The Boilers were led with hits by Schiltz, with three hits on the afternoon.

Varsity Narrowly Loses to AlWood

Both Kewanee teams traveled to AlWood High School on Thursday, March 27. The varsity team narrowly lost 8-7. 

Senior Landon Sheets took the bump for Kewanee, throwing four innings, allowing seven hits, only one earned run, and striking out two batters. 

Offensively, Welgat led the Boilers, going three for three at the plate with a home run, double, single and a walk. Welgat took the mound for two innings in relief, allowing one earned run on one hit while striking out three batters.

Kewanee’s errors and free bases proved costly, as the pitchers only allowed two earned runs on the night.

JV drop three more games

The Kewanee JV team traveled to LaSalle-Peru on Tuesday and lost 17-2. The team managed seven hits, with three from sophomore Isiah Ince and two from Jackson Price. 

The LP offense was, unfortunately, too strong, putting up 17 runs in just three innings.

The JV team also traveled to AlWood, where they lost 13-5. Jackson Price led things off on the bump for the Boilermakers. The hurler gave up seven hits and seven earned runs over three innings, striking out one and walking three. 

Offensively, the team got off to a slow start. The squad put up five runs in the top of the fifth inning, but the effort was not enough to match AlWood.

The JV squad ended the week by hosting St. Bede, narrowly losing 8-5. Isaiah Ince took the mound for Kewanee, allowing five hits and zero earned runs through 4.2 innings while striking out five. 

The offense was led by Jackson Price with three hits and sophomore Damien Taylor with two hits. Sophomore Rafael Palma took the mound in relief, allowing one hit and one earned run through 2.1 innings while striking out two. 

Ultimately, the team’s eight errors proved costly, as they couldn’t rally back offensively late in the game.

Varsity gets huge win over Stark County

The varsity team ended the week hosting the Stark County Rebels and were victorious 15-5.

Mason took the mound for Kewanee, pitching three innings, allowing zero earned runs, and only giving the Rebels one hit while striking out five batters. 

Kewanee was firing on all cylinders offensively, putting up 12 runs through the first two innings. The Boilers were led by Mason with three hits with four RBIs and junior Abram Hicks with two hits and three RBIs. Junior Griffin Hicks took the mound in relief, surrendering zero earned runs and zero hits while striking out two batters through two innings of work.

This week’s schedule

The varsity team is scheduled to play three games this week, and the JV is slated to play four. 

On Monday, the varsity team will travel to Macomb High School, and the fresh-soph team will host the Macomb JV team at Northeast Park. Both games will start at 4:30 p.m.

The following day, the JV team will travel to Galesburg; the first pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. On Friday, the Boilers will host the Monmouth-Roseville Titans. The varsity game will start at 4:30 p.m., and the JV game will follow.

Finally, both teams will end the week at Northeast Park on Saturday. The varsity squad will face Henry at 10 a.m., and the JV team will face Henry’s JV right after the varsity game.