TITANS DOMINATE TO WIN STATE
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
In the end, it didn't even seem like a fair fight. After two 10-plus run blowouts, the Glenwood Titans
were crowned 2010 IHSA Class 3A baseball state champions after steamrolling through Joliet Catholic
Academy and DeKalb last weekend at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
The Titans (32-4) won the second state championship in the program's history by routing JCA 17-5 in
the semis and DeKalb 11-1 in the state title game. And the similarities to the 1996 state title team, as
head coach Pat Moomey pointed out, are simply astonishing.
In the previous season to each state title run, Glenwood finished second (1995 and 2009). But the
story gets better.
"I'm a history major, but I hope I don't get sent back to the classroom for my last couple of years,"
Moomey joked. "It's amazing how history repeats itself. We played Triad the last two years in the Super-
Sectional, same team, same pitcher (Travis Felax) in both games. And we had the same thing in 1996
against Champaign Centennial, and it even ended up being the same score (5-4).
"And then we got up here and swung the bats great, just like we did this year," he continued. "It's just a
carbon copy. And to finish second and first back-to-back in the same way."
This year's magical run for the Titans was no fluke. The team, especially the senior class, has been
focused on this final goal all season long.
"It feels great," stated senior Jared Turner. "We set a record by 10-running both games. It feels great
to come here two years in a row and finally take home the trophy. It's the greatest moment of my life.
"We had a little chip on our shoulder from last year, obviously," Turner added. "We came in here
determined and ready to win, and we did."
"It's unbelievable," added senior Jake Ingold. "Ever since we won it in seventh grade (on a walk-off
grand slam by Ingold himself), our next goal was to win it in high school. It's just an unbelievable feeling.
I didn't think it would feel this good, but it does."
•Once the final out was recorded the Titans celebrated en masse near the pitcher's mound in a huge
dog pile, with winning pitcher Phil Maton bearing the brunt of the celebration.
"It's great," Maton stated. "There's nothing better than that, getting in that pile. Getting it done after
losing last year is just huge."
"It feels great, I'm happy for those kids," Moomey continued. "Our seniors, you try to talk to kids about
how to prepare for practice and prepare for games. You hope they get it and sometimes you may have to
get on them. But with these guys, if anything, we had to get them to tone it down a bit. We had such great
senior leadership, and the juniors and sophomores followed right along. It was just an incredible year.
These kids gave everything they had."
Maton (11-0) pitched all six innings to gain the victory, scattering four hits while striking out nine and
walking none. Though the shutout was lost in the last inning on a pop fly lost in the sun, it did not matter.
Maton was dominant, one start after getting hit hard by Triad.
"Phil's a competitor, and Triad got to him," Glenwood pitching coach John Hyde stated. "They're a good
hitting team, and I went out and talked to him, and he was mad. He takes it personally. He wanted to stay
in and get the victory, but he came up a little short and Jake (Ingold) had to spell him. But he (Maton) was
the first one right there to congratulate Jake when it was over."
"I felt like the first three innings, I didn't have great control," Maton explained. "But once the fourth inning
rolled around, I threw a lot of strikes and I was missing their bats."
•With rain all around the area and a bad forecast for the rest of the day, IHSA officials moved up the
day's schedule, with four games to get in (including the Class 4A third place and title games). The 3A
third place game was shortened to five innings from the start, but it didn't even get that far, with Woodstock
Marian leading JCA 8-3 in the fourth when the rain and lightning came.
When the skies cleared, the game was ruled over and preparations for the championship game
began. There were no delays during the title game, which finished about an hour before another big
storm hit the Joliet area.
The game was scoreless through three innings before the Titans broke through against DeKalb ace
Ben Dallesasse (11-2). GHS scored four runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and five more in the sixth. The
Titans finished with 14 hits, including a two-run homer from Jake Lance and a triple from Ingold, while
committing no errors, though Jake Fulks lost a popup in the sun that scored the only run for the Barbs.
"We've had a lot of games where we didn't score early and we always came back in the end like that,"
Ingold explained.
"When our bats come alive, we just keep rolling," Turner added.
"(Michael) Fiaush and (Chris) Sekardi got the big two out hits, and Fulks almost had a home run,"
Moomey explained. "I think that kind of set us apart a little bit and you could feel the air go out of DeKalb's
sails after that double by Fulks."
In the top of the fourth, Ingold walked and Lance singled through the hole to left. With two outs, Fiaush,
the hero of the Super-Sectional win over Triad, sent a single down the right-field line for an RBI to bring
home the game's first run. Sekardi followed with another two-out hit to right to make it 2-0. Then, with
runners at second and third, Fulks sent a deep fly off the left field wall for two RBI and a 4-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Lance had an RBI chop single to center and Dallas Henderson added an RBI
double to left-center.
Then in the top of the sixth, Reese had an RBI double to right-center, Ingold had a booming RBI triple
to the center field wall, Maton had an RBI single to right and Lance capped things off with a two-run homer
to left.
DeKalb scraped together a run in the bottom of the sixth on a hit batter, steal and pop fly to short lost in
the sun by Fulks. Frank Petras flied to right to end the game and set off a massive celebration for
Glenwood.
"We had the perfect combination with this group," Moomey stated. "We had the seniors that everybody
knows about, but I give all of our assistant coaches credit. We do a really good job as a staff of identifying
kids who maybe aren't star players, but they're going to fill a role. Guys like Henderson and Sekardi in our
lineup, and Max Xanders and Matt Green on the mound. Those two guys (Xanders and Green) gave us
huge contributions in the SHG games, and I don't know if this team would have had the confidence to go
on like we did if we let those games get away."
Senior pitcher Bryce Sablotny burst on the scene during last year's state tournament run, capping his
season by pitching Glenwood to a 2-1 win over LaSalle-Peru in the state semifinal game. He finished 10-
1 in his senior season, again winning the state semifinal game, turning that trick two years in a row.
"This feels amazing," he exclaimed. "To pitch in the semifinal game and win that, it's just amazing.
That LaSalle-Peru game put some character in me. I felt like we came back this year and battled in a lot of
games and we had a lot of comeback wins.
"It wasn't so nerve-wracking this year," he continued. "We told some of the juniors how to react this
year, and not to get so overwhelmed. I think our experience from last year was a big factor."
"We knew we had some good pitchers coming back, and they put a lot of hard work in the last year,"
Hyde added. "Bryce came on strong and so did Phil, and this year they really knew their roles. They knew
they worked hard all winter, so it came as no surprise to them that they would bear the load for us. They
came up huge."
Finally, Moomey made a subtle change to his lineup before the Triad game, and he stuck with those
changes for the final three games of the season. Fulks was moved to leadoff, and Turner to second in the
order, with Reese moving from leadoff to the third batter. Ingold, Maton and Lance each moved down one
spot to Nos. 4-6 in the order.
"Well, the first thing I did, and a lot of coaches don't adhere to this, but I checked with the kids first,"
Moomey explained. "I wanted to make sure they liked the changes. The reason I did it was we were
leaving a lot of guys on base, and I thought maybe if we stacked Reese and Ingold, I thought Ingold's
gonna bust out and those guys and Maton are our big RBI guys. And I thought that Fulks and Turner
would get on base.
"It worked this time, and if it doesn't, I guess you look like a big dummy for changing the lineup at that
time," he continued. "But in 1996, we did the same thing. (Jayson) Werth was batting first all year then we
dropped him to third. Lineups are a fickle thing; you go with hunches and hope it works."
By Joe Pritchett
Chatham Editor
In the end, it didn't even seem like a fair fight. After two 10-plus run blowouts, the Glenwood Titans
were crowned 2010 IHSA Class 3A baseball state champions after steamrolling through Joliet Catholic
Academy and DeKalb last weekend at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.
The Titans (32-4) won the second state championship in the program's history by routing JCA 17-5 in
the semis and DeKalb 11-1 in the state title game. And the similarities to the 1996 state title team, as
head coach Pat Moomey pointed out, are simply astonishing.
In the previous season to each state title run, Glenwood finished second (1995 and 2009). But the
story gets better.
"I'm a history major, but I hope I don't get sent back to the classroom for my last couple of years,"
Moomey joked. "It's amazing how history repeats itself. We played Triad the last two years in the Super-
Sectional, same team, same pitcher (Travis Felax) in both games. And we had the same thing in 1996
against Champaign Centennial, and it even ended up being the same score (5-4).
"And then we got up here and swung the bats great, just like we did this year," he continued. "It's just a
carbon copy. And to finish second and first back-to-back in the same way."
This year's magical run for the Titans was no fluke. The team, especially the senior class, has been
focused on this final goal all season long.
"It feels great," stated senior Jared Turner. "We set a record by 10-running both games. It feels great
to come here two years in a row and finally take home the trophy. It's the greatest moment of my life.
"We had a little chip on our shoulder from last year, obviously," Turner added. "We came in here
determined and ready to win, and we did."
"It's unbelievable," added senior Jake Ingold. "Ever since we won it in seventh grade (on a walk-off
grand slam by Ingold himself), our next goal was to win it in high school. It's just an unbelievable feeling.
I didn't think it would feel this good, but it does."
•Once the final out was recorded the Titans celebrated en masse near the pitcher's mound in a huge
dog pile, with winning pitcher Phil Maton bearing the brunt of the celebration.
"It's great," Maton stated. "There's nothing better than that, getting in that pile. Getting it done after
losing last year is just huge."
"It feels great, I'm happy for those kids," Moomey continued. "Our seniors, you try to talk to kids about
how to prepare for practice and prepare for games. You hope they get it and sometimes you may have to
get on them. But with these guys, if anything, we had to get them to tone it down a bit. We had such great
senior leadership, and the juniors and sophomores followed right along. It was just an incredible year.
These kids gave everything they had."
Maton (11-0) pitched all six innings to gain the victory, scattering four hits while striking out nine and
walking none. Though the shutout was lost in the last inning on a pop fly lost in the sun, it did not matter.
Maton was dominant, one start after getting hit hard by Triad.
"Phil's a competitor, and Triad got to him," Glenwood pitching coach John Hyde stated. "They're a good
hitting team, and I went out and talked to him, and he was mad. He takes it personally. He wanted to stay
in and get the victory, but he came up a little short and Jake (Ingold) had to spell him. But he (Maton) was
the first one right there to congratulate Jake when it was over."
"I felt like the first three innings, I didn't have great control," Maton explained. "But once the fourth inning
rolled around, I threw a lot of strikes and I was missing their bats."
•With rain all around the area and a bad forecast for the rest of the day, IHSA officials moved up the
day's schedule, with four games to get in (including the Class 4A third place and title games). The 3A
third place game was shortened to five innings from the start, but it didn't even get that far, with Woodstock
Marian leading JCA 8-3 in the fourth when the rain and lightning came.
When the skies cleared, the game was ruled over and preparations for the championship game
began. There were no delays during the title game, which finished about an hour before another big
storm hit the Joliet area.
The game was scoreless through three innings before the Titans broke through against DeKalb ace
Ben Dallesasse (11-2). GHS scored four runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and five more in the sixth. The
Titans finished with 14 hits, including a two-run homer from Jake Lance and a triple from Ingold, while
committing no errors, though Jake Fulks lost a popup in the sun that scored the only run for the Barbs.
"We've had a lot of games where we didn't score early and we always came back in the end like that,"
Ingold explained.
"When our bats come alive, we just keep rolling," Turner added.
"(Michael) Fiaush and (Chris) Sekardi got the big two out hits, and Fulks almost had a home run,"
Moomey explained. "I think that kind of set us apart a little bit and you could feel the air go out of DeKalb's
sails after that double by Fulks."
In the top of the fourth, Ingold walked and Lance singled through the hole to left. With two outs, Fiaush,
the hero of the Super-Sectional win over Triad, sent a single down the right-field line for an RBI to bring
home the game's first run. Sekardi followed with another two-out hit to right to make it 2-0. Then, with
runners at second and third, Fulks sent a deep fly off the left field wall for two RBI and a 4-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Lance had an RBI chop single to center and Dallas Henderson added an RBI
double to left-center.
Then in the top of the sixth, Reese had an RBI double to right-center, Ingold had a booming RBI triple
to the center field wall, Maton had an RBI single to right and Lance capped things off with a two-run homer
to left.
DeKalb scraped together a run in the bottom of the sixth on a hit batter, steal and pop fly to short lost in
the sun by Fulks. Frank Petras flied to right to end the game and set off a massive celebration for
Glenwood.
"We had the perfect combination with this group," Moomey stated. "We had the seniors that everybody
knows about, but I give all of our assistant coaches credit. We do a really good job as a staff of identifying
kids who maybe aren't star players, but they're going to fill a role. Guys like Henderson and Sekardi in our
lineup, and Max Xanders and Matt Green on the mound. Those two guys (Xanders and Green) gave us
huge contributions in the SHG games, and I don't know if this team would have had the confidence to go
on like we did if we let those games get away."
Senior pitcher Bryce Sablotny burst on the scene during last year's state tournament run, capping his
season by pitching Glenwood to a 2-1 win over LaSalle-Peru in the state semifinal game. He finished 10-
1 in his senior season, again winning the state semifinal game, turning that trick two years in a row.
"This feels amazing," he exclaimed. "To pitch in the semifinal game and win that, it's just amazing.
That LaSalle-Peru game put some character in me. I felt like we came back this year and battled in a lot of
games and we had a lot of comeback wins.
"It wasn't so nerve-wracking this year," he continued. "We told some of the juniors how to react this
year, and not to get so overwhelmed. I think our experience from last year was a big factor."
"We knew we had some good pitchers coming back, and they put a lot of hard work in the last year,"
Hyde added. "Bryce came on strong and so did Phil, and this year they really knew their roles. They knew
they worked hard all winter, so it came as no surprise to them that they would bear the load for us. They
came up huge."
Finally, Moomey made a subtle change to his lineup before the Triad game, and he stuck with those
changes for the final three games of the season. Fulks was moved to leadoff, and Turner to second in the
order, with Reese moving from leadoff to the third batter. Ingold, Maton and Lance each moved down one
spot to Nos. 4-6 in the order.
"Well, the first thing I did, and a lot of coaches don't adhere to this, but I checked with the kids first,"
Moomey explained. "I wanted to make sure they liked the changes. The reason I did it was we were
leaving a lot of guys on base, and I thought maybe if we stacked Reese and Ingold, I thought Ingold's
gonna bust out and those guys and Maton are our big RBI guys. And I thought that Fulks and Turner
would get on base.
"It worked this time, and if it doesn't, I guess you look like a big dummy for changing the lineup at that
time," he continued. "But in 1996, we did the same thing. (Jayson) Werth was batting first all year then we
dropped him to third. Lineups are a fickle thing; you go with hunches and hope it works."
Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: June 17, 2010
