To start the spring season, the Antioch Community High School varsity baseball team was off to a rocky start. In the first game of the season, they played Johnsburg High School and were unable to hold a 5-3 lead, losing 6-7. In game two of the year, the Sequoits lost 4-0 against Marengo High School; with only three hits on the day, the Sequoits could not generate any offense to score. Thus, heading into their spring break trip, they were 0-2.
After those two games, the Sequoits headed down south to Jacksonville, Illinois for their spring break trip. On Saturday, March 22, after a long bus ride, the Sequoits played Jacksonville High School. They were unable to come away with the win, losing in a 3-1 game. Senior pitcher Tyler Johnson started the game and went four innings, surrendering two runs, on three hits, and striking out three. Junior pitcher RJ Deguzman then came out of the bullpen and threw two innings in relief, allowing one run, three hits and striking out four along the way. Junior designated hitter Zach Rubin and senior shortstop Conner Devine both collected one hit each to lead the team. The team spent the night in Jacksonville before another game that Sunday.
On the wet and windy Sunday morning, the Sequoits took on the Plainfield East Bengals; the game ended in a 9-9 tie after going eight innings. Senior pitcher and center fielder Jackson Mozina started on the bump for the Sequoits, and the lefty went five innings and only gave up two runs. Going into the sixth inning the Sequoits had an 8-4 lead, however, they were unable to hang on to it as the Bengals scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth and two in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. Neither team was able to score in the eighth inning, and the game was called a tie.
After the two games in Jacksonville, the team traveled to O’Fallon, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. On Monday, March 24, the Sequoits had a double header against St. Charles High School and Fort Zumwalt East High School, respectively. In the first game, the Sequoits picked up their first win of the season, defeating St. Charles 15-0. While senior pitcher Ben Clausen was on the mound, he went all four innings, giving up one hit, zero runs and striking out seven. The Sequoits’ bats were blazing hot for this game as the team collected 14 hits. Senior Nate Yeager, Zach Rubin, junior Evan Gissel and senior Hayden Sinda all collected two hits in the game to lead the Sequoits. After a dominant performance to start the day, the Sequoits now faced a stronger opponent in Fort Zumwalt East. Senior pitcher Carson Young started the game for Antioch on the mound. After allowing two runs in the first inning, he did not allow another run to score. He went a five-inning complete game in the 13-2 win. Young only allowed two hits and struck out seven in the game. In the first inning, senior Evan Schmidt hit a two-run home run to left field to get the Sequoits on the board early. Yeager led the team with three hits and a walk, reaching base in every plate appearance he had.
The Sequoits played Orchard Farm High School in their final game of the trip. Sophomore pitcher Teagan Mogle made his first varsity start and allowed zero earned runs over three innings and struck out four. The bats continued to stay hot as the team coasted to a 9-4 win over Orchard Farm. Rubin led the team with 2 hits on the day.
Antioch ended the trip on a three-game winning streak, bringing the season record to three wins, three losses and one tie. The trip allowed the team to bond, gaining lots of expirenceand was an overall a positive excursion.
