Headrick and Wilkins Lead Reed-Custer Past Illiana Christian

May 25, 2016

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

SENECA, IL – Reed-Custer the No. 1 seed in the Seneca Sectional matched up with Illiana Christian in a Class 2A Sectional Semifinal on Wednesday afternoon. Illinois State recruit, Brent Headrick was too much for Illiana Christian twirling a complete game with 11 strikeouts, leading Reed-Custer to a 7-3 victory.

Headrick a 6-foot-6, left-handed pitcher, ranked No. 31 in the Illinois’ class of 2016, pounded the strike zone throughout his seven innings of work. Headrick only walked one and challenged hitters with a fastball that sat 86-88 mph, touching 90 a few times. As the game progressed Headrick started to mix in his 73-75 mph breaking ball more often keeping hitters off balance. The final two innings may have been Headrick’s most impressive as four of the six outs were recorded via strikeout and the only hit was an infield hit. His fastball sat 88 mph in the final frame.

The Reed-Custer (26-5) offense was propelled by junior third baseman Eddie Wilkins. Wilkins laced a double to left in his first at-bat and came to the plate in top of the third inning with a runner on second, two outs and Reed-Custer leading 2-0. That is when Wilkins took a fastball in the middle of the plate and launched a no doubt two-run homerun deep over the left-field wall giving the Comets a 4-0 lead, a lead that lasted until the end.

Illiana Christian (20-13) made it a 4-3 game after scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Catcher Norman Standish had an RBI single in the frame and Jon Gibson singled and scored a run for the Vikings. That would be the extent of the scoring for the Vikings as they were only able to one baserunner in the final three innings.

The Comets added two runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth with help from a Josh Loomis RBI single, and a Headrick sacrifice fly.

Reed-Custer moves onto the Seneca Sectional Championship game Saturday at 11am.

STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
+ LHP Brent Headrick (Reed-Custer) – 7IP, 7H, 3R, 11K, BB
+ 3B Eddie Wilkins (Reed-Custer) – 3-for-3, HR, 2B, 2RBI, R, BB
+ SS Neil O’Donnell (Reed-Custer) – 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, SB
+ RHP Kyle Schaaf (Illiana Christian) – 2IP, 2H, 0R, K
+ C Norman Standish (Illiana Christian) – 2-for-3, R, RBI