EDWARDSVILLE — if not for the Edwardsville Tigers entering Wednesday’s Class 4A sectional semifinal at Tom Pile Field on a 28-game winning streak, the O’Fallon Panthers would be the hottest team left going in the postseason.
Since starting the season 5-5, including back-to-back losses to the Tigers, the Panthers have gone 18-4 over their last 22 games. They have won seven of their last eight, including a 3-0 win over Quincy and an 11-0 win over Granite City to earn the regional championship.
“I know they’ve been playing really well now, and we had some good battles with them early on and fortunate to come up with a couple of wins, but that’s been a long time away,” EHS coach Tim Funkhouser said. “We’ll be back there Wednesday for another battle.”
Top-seeded Edwardsville (34-3) and second-seeded O’Fallon (22-9) meet at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Tom Pile with the winner hosting the sectional championship game on Friday against the winner of third-seeded Joliet West (17-9-1) and top-seeded Minooka (18-10).
The Illinois State University Super-Sectional is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday at Duffy Bass Field in Normal. The state tournament is on June 19 in Joliet.
Wednesday’s game will be the third meeting this season between Edwardsville and O’Fallon.
The Tigers won 8-1 on April 29 in O’Fallon behind five RBIs from Spencer Stearns and three RBIs and a home run from Ty Berumen and won 8-4 on May 1 in Edwardsville behind four RBIs and a home run from Evan Funkhouser.
In the first win, Edwardsville’s Quinn Weber went the distance, allowing seven hits and one run with eight strikeouts.
Weber will likely get the start Wednesday.
Over his last six starts, Weber has allowed just one earned run in 31 innings, including 30 straight scoreless innings. He fired a five-inning no-hitter in the win over Collinsville in the postseason opener.
Now 8-1 with a 1.51 ERA on the season, Weber had a two-hitter against Alton on May 15 and a three-hitter against Belleville West on May 20.
“Quinn did a great job of handling the big-game setting (against Collinsville). He’s matured immensely over the years of trusting himself,” Tim Funkhouser said.
O’Fallon could counter with Mike Larson, who went 5.2 innings and allowed just two hits with 13 strikeouts and one walk in the win over Quincy.
This season, Larson is 3-0 with a 1.20 ERA and 30 strikeouts against 13 walks in 23.1 innings. He hasn’t faced the Tigers yet.
Edwardsville possesses one of the top offenses in the state.
EHS is hitting .327 as a team with six regulars batting over .300, including Caleb Copeland with a team-leading .404 batting average and 16 RBIs.
Spencer Stearns leads in the power categories with four homers and 43 RBIs. He’s hitting .394.
Others to watch include Grant Huebner (.376, two homers, 30 RBIs), Evan Funkhouser (.361, four homers, 27 RBIs), Riley Iffrig (.333, two homers, 29 RBIs) and Ty Berumen (.302, three homers, 32 RBIs).
Hayden Moore is hitting .275 with an on-base percentage of .520. He has a team-leading 26 stolen bases.
Edwardsville is averaging 8.6 runs per game to lead the Southwestern Conference. O’Fallon is second at 7.03 runs.
The Panthers are led by Will Millard (.387, homer, 18 RBIs), Kellen Scruggs (.312, two homers, 20 RBIs) and Corey Quintal (.287, homer, 24 RBIs).
O’Fallon is aiming for its first sectional championship since 2018 and ninth overall, while Edwardsville is going for back-to-back titles and a state-record 19th.
The Tigers collected their state-record 33rd regional championship, tying Oak Park-River Forest, with the 6-5 win over Belleville West on Monday.
“This was a huge stepping stone since we’re still the defending state champions,” Huebner said. “We’re looking to get back there to win it again.”
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