JOLIET – Andrew Yancik and Joel Quirin had key roles for Edwardsville in their 3-1 IHSA Class 4A state semifinal win over Burbank St. Laurence at Joliet's Silver Cross Field Friday evening.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Yancik went the distance on the mound and also contributed a two-RBI double in the fourth and a key RBI single with the bases loaded in the sixth; Quirin had a double that led to him scoring what proved to be the insurance run on Yancik's bases-loaded single in the sixth.
Yancik admitted to being a bit nervous going into the bottom of the seventh against the Vikings. “The nerves were there a little bit,” the senior said. “I was psyched and ready to go to get that last inning over with; in the end, I calmed down and just made my pitches to get those last three outs.”
Yancik's game – three RBIs to go with an excellent pitching performance that shut down a high-powered offense – wasn't something he had scripted in his mind going into the game. “I don't think I scripted this to go this way at all coming into the game,” Yancik said, “but I was going to do whatever I could to help the team get the win.”
Yancik's key inning on the mound was the bottom of the sixth; Johnny Peterson had led off with a single and stole second with the heart of the Viking order coming up, but Yancik retired the side thanks to a big catch from Will Messer and striking out Jimmy Burnette and Zach Vorda.
“That was huge, getting the middle of their lineup with some of their better bats,” Yancik said. “That gave me a lot of confidence going in with their 6-7-8 guys to come into the seventh inning; I felt I could just throw normal pitches and have a better chance to get them out.”
“It's surreal – not surreal, but it's a big moment,” Quirin said about the chance to take home a state championship before admitting the moment was 'surreal'. “I've been on the team since my sophomore year and those guys I've played with, they were in the same shoes that we are – they wanted to get here and we're here now in our senior year. It feels great.”
St. Laurence's Angel Sandoval had tossed a 60-pitch complete-game win in the Vikings' Crestwood Super-Sectional win over Naperville Neuqua Valley that sent them to the semifinal. “Going into the game, we'd knew he'd threw a 60-pitch shutout (the Vikings won 5-1),” Quirin said, “but he wasn't anything we couldn't handle; we knew that. He's a good pitcher and a good guy, we got the best of him today.”
