Harvard turns 1 hit into surprising win

Harvard pitcher Collin Nolen delivers a pitch in the top of the seventh inning in the IHSA Class 2A Byron Sectional semifinals Thursday in Byron. Harvard beat Stillman Valley, 2-1. ((Randy Stukenberg – For the Northwest Herald))

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BYRON – Harvard catcher Brian Koester had no sooner secured the game-ending pop fly when pitcher Collin Nolen sprinted off the mound toward him.

Nolen grabbed his batterymate and the two celebrated, knowing well that no one had given Harvard’s baseball team much of a chance in Thursday’s IHSA Class 2A Byron Sectional semifinal against Stillman Valley.

The Hornets nabbed a 2-1 victory against the Cardinals and ace pitcher Dane Green, who allowed one hit in seven innings and struck out 14.

Harvard will play for its second consecutive sectional title at 11 a.m. Saturday against Prophetstown, which beat Winnebago, 3-1, in the other semifinal.

The whole postseason is beginning to feel like the baseball equivalent of March Madness, Nolen said, and Harvard – a team with an 11-19 record – feels like the team from “Hoosiers.”

“We’re playing our best baseball right now,” said Nolen, who went the distance and did not allow a run until the bottom of the seventh inning. “We lost, 11-1, to them earlier, but we were missing five guys and we had nine errors in the game. We knew they thought that was our whole team and what we could do.

“ ... Nobody expects us to win, so we don’t have anything to lose.”

Harvard scored its first run in the top of the first inning. Nolen (6-6) drew a leadoff walk and came home on an error when Byron tried to pick him off at second.

The Hornets added their second run in the fourth. Green was throwing a no-hitter, and Koester and Cody Melson drew back-to-back walks.

With two outs, Harvard coach Ryan Frenk called for a double steal. Melson walked off first and Tommy Larkin – on third running for Koester – stole home while Melson was in a rundown to make it 2-0.

“We practiced defending that, and we made a mistake,” Stillman Valley coach Scott Wilhite said. “They took advantage of it.”

Nolen issued his first walk of the game to Green to lead off the seventh, and Jeff Cialkowski drove in the run with a two-out fielder’s choice.

But Nolen got John Timm to pop out to Koester to end the game.

“These guys have been so close in so many games this year only to have them not go our way,” Frenk said. “It’s a great bunch of guys with a lot of character and experience, and we’re very happy to be playing for another sectional title.”