O’Fallon baseball team caps outstanding season with win in 3rd place game at state

A big sixth inning keyed by a three-run double from Xavier Deatherage gave the O’Fallon Panthers baseball team the edge they needed to leave the IHSA Class 3A tournament with some well-deserved hardware.

Deatherage, the Panthers third baseman, knocked in the three runs with an RBI double down the left-field line to help drive a five-run Panthers explosion as O’Fallon overcame a 1-0 deficit and rallied for a 6-4 win over Rockton Hononegan in the third place game Saturday afternoon at Dupage Medical Group Filed in Joliet.

Thanks to the victory, O’Fallon finished the season on an up note at 26-10 overall in the program’s first state appearance since 2009.

“We talked post-game and thought we could make the run, and we’re ecstatic with this group. No question they bought in and they started to play well, and obviously the results were there, and I think we represented ourselves really well,” O’Fallon coach Joe Bauer said.

Rockton went on top 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Michael Anderson. O’Fallon then overcame a slow start against Rockton starter Scott Porter for five innings by getting hot in the top of the sixth.

An RBI triple from first baseman Corey Quintal and a bases-loaded walk by Kendall Brookins pushed the Panthers in front 2-1. Deatherage followed with a bases-clearing double to left, and the Panthers’ lead grew to 5-2.

Panthers starter Kaden Joggerst kept the Indian bats quiet as he allowed just two runs, struck out five, and walked two to get the win.

“Kaden Joggerst did a phenomenal job keeping us in the game, and then we started to swing the bats a little bit,” Bauer said.

O’Fallon added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to make it 6-2.

Rockton scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame, but O’Fallon reliever Zach Rhein stopped the Indians’ final threat as he recorded the final out with two runners on base.

Bauer was elated with his club’s response after losing a heartbreaker in the semifinals earlier in the day.

“I was proud of the way they bounced back in the third place game,” he said. “I don’t think we played tremendously sharp in the third place game, but I think that was more the result of the heat than anything.”

This story was originally published June 19, 2021 at 11:00 PM.