By Sean Duncan

JOLIET ? Oak Forest right-hander Kyle Funkhouser doesn?t make many, if any, mistakes during a game. And never once during the course of his phenomenal junior season did any of those mistakes get taken out of the ballpark.

So when Nazareth catcher Justin Gonzalez smashed Funkhouser?s 89-mph fastball over the left-field wall at Silver Cross Field in the second inning of Friday?s Class 3A state semifinal game, it looked perhaps like the Louisville recruit had picked the wrong day to have a bad outing.

Funkhouser, however, only made that one mistake, while Nazareth?s usually rock-solid defense made three, which, in the end, contributed to all three of Oak Forest runs in the Bengals? 3-1 victory over Nazareth to advance to the Class 3A state championship game.

The Bengals (27-7-1), who have only two seniors on the team, will now play Kaneland on Saturday for the Class 3A state championship, which would be the school?s first since 1985. Kaneland defeated Waterloo in the second semifinal game, 8-2.

?We weren?t the best team at first, but we?re such a family now,? said senior shortstop Bobby Sheppard, who went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run. ?I love all these guys.?

Funkhouser (12-0), the Bengals? indomitable 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander, rebounded well after Gonzalez staked Nazareth (34-6) to a quick 1-0 advantage. Funkhouser, who entered the game with a 0.83 ERA with 130 strikeouts, allowed only two hits the rest of the way, while striking out four and walking three.

?He was sitting fastball on that one,? Funkhouser said about the home run. ?He crushed it. ? But I have faith in our defense.?

To be sure, Oak Forest?s defense was money, as the Bengals turned three double plays, two of which came in the final two innings after Funkhouser had issued leadoff walks. Both double plays came directly after the walks to wipe out any threat.

?Without a doubt, those double plays were momentum-killers,? said Oak Forest coach Thaddeus Gatton.

Oak Forest, which tallied seven hits, finally caught a break in the fourth inning when Nazareth?s defense collapsed with three errors. Sheppard led off the inning with a single, then junior Cody Murray laid down an excellent sacrifice bunt that was ruled a hit, but Sheppard advanced to third on a wild throw on the play. Another infield error loaded up the bases before Arthur Johnson coaxed a walk to tie the game at 1-1.

Pinch-hitter hit a sacrifice fly, and Oak Forest scored its final run on a wild pitch.

?It?s just the game of baseball,? said Nazareth coach Lee Milano. ?Those things happen. It was just a bad inning.?

Ryan Powers, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, relieved junior Ryan Marske in the fourth inning, and pitched four innings, allowing two hits and struck out five in his third appearance in a week.

?We knew that Funkhouser was one of the best pitchers in the state,? said Powers. ?I thought we were well-prepared to face him. We battled every pitch. Overall, I thought we played tough. Obviously we?re disappointed.?

In the second Class 3A state semifinal game:

Kaneland 8, Waterloo 2: Senior right-handed pitcher Bobby Thorson once again was the catalyst for Kaneland as he led the Knights to the Class 3A championship game.

On the mound, the 6-foot, 180-pound Thorson threw a four-hitter, allowing two runs while striking out five and walking four. At the plate, Thorson tallied two hits, including a triple, to lead off Kaneland?s game-changing four-run fourth inning. Thorson, who is uncommitted, also drove in a run.

?I was a little rough to start the game,? Thorson said. ?I was trying to figure out the umpire?s strike zone. ? That triple kind of sparked us.?

Waterloo (32-4), which knocked off two-time defending champion Glenwood in the supersectional, 1-0, jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three innings. But Kaneland (25-10) erupted for four runs in the fourth inning, which Thorson ignited with his triple against Waterloo starter AJ Crutchfield (9-2).

Right fielder Jake Razo and second baseman Brian Dixon each had RBI singles before Tyler Heinle dropped down a perfectly executed suicide squeeze ? on a pitchout, much less ? that went for a hit and gave Kaneland the lead for good. An error led to another run for the Knights, who are making their first state appearance.

First baseman Sam Komel finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and Razo added two hits. Six different players drove in runs for Kaneland.

Waterloo was led by Alex Wittenauer, who had two hits and an RBI. Lucas Wetzler also drove in a run. Waterloo will play Nazareth in the third-place game Saturday at 9 a.m.