Tigers capture their third state title with extra inning drama

JOLIET - Solid pitching, timely hitting, and impeccable defense, when required most, is what championship teams do.

That is what the Edwardsville Tigers have done all season long.

They also had plenty of depth, which is where players like Aaron Young stepped up to the occasion.

He found himself at second base with two outs in the top of the eighth inning with the score tied against the St. Charles North Stars.

Blake Burris laid down an exquisite bunt down the third base line that was bare-handed by Jayden Lobliner, whose throw hit Burris in the back as he stepped on first base. With the ball rolling away, Young sprinted to home plate and by inches beat out the tag applied by Marco Torres giving the Tigers the lead back at 3-2 and sending the Edwardsville faithful into jubilation from an unlikely source.

"As soon as the ball was thrown to first, coach [Tim] Funkhouser said to get in there. I saw the ball get bobbled and I ran as fast as I could," Young said. "I felt like it was close. My head was on the ground, so I didn't see it. I looked up and saw the umpire say safe, and I knew we had a chance. That's all it took. Our dream was to get here."

Collin Salter finished things off in the bottom half of the inning by striking out Kevin White looking on cut-fastball to clinch the 2019 Class 4A state championship for Edwardsville and career victory No. 700 for head coach Tim Funkhouser.

"The trust in our guys was at such a high level, and that's why we were able to do a lot of the things we did during the course of the season and played out in this game too. We have so many different ways we can win," Funkhouser said.

St. Charles North, who played in their second state tournament and first championship appearance in school history, finished the season at 29-11.

Edwardsville starting pitcher, Matthew Boyer, who is committed to Saint Louis University, finished the season with a 10-1 record. He pitched six innings and gave up four hits and two runs while striking out nine and walking two batters.

Collin Salter picked up the win and the save.

"It's amazing. This is something a lot of people work for, and a lot of people get," Salter said. "This is something we will remember for a lifetime."

After replacing Matthew Boyer with runners and base and nobody out, Salter walked the next batter to load the bases. With the St. Charles North dugout and supporters on their feet sensing a game-winning rally on the cards, Salter had to regroup mentally.

"My heart was beating pretty hard, especially with the crowd and everything going on," Salter said. "I just had to zone in and focus, do what I know I can do and shut them down."

He managed to induce a groundball that led to a 6-4-3 double play that tied the game but was a momentum killer for the Stars. With a runner on third, Salter struck the next batter to get out of the jam and extend the game.

After a stalemate through three innings, the Tigers offense came alive in the top of the fourth. With one out and Ohl up to bat, Drake Westcott and Joe Copeland performed a double-steal. The throw down to the third base was wild, and Westcott was able to score the first run of the game. Moments later, Copeland made it 2-0 on a passed ball.

The Tigers were able to get four hits off of John Hamer, Johnny Lambert, and Nick DeMarco.

With runners on the corners, the Stars got on the board in the fifth. Egon Hein hit a grounder up the middle, but Ohl came up with a diving stop and flipped the ball to Logan Cromer for the force out while Kyler Brown scored from third.

The state championship is the third in program history for Edwardsville and second overall for Funkhouser who won it as a player in 1990.

"They're both great. The manager medal is feeling pretty good," Funkhouser said.

Shortly after his team knocked out Hampshire in the semifinals, Westcott predicted Edwardsville wasn't going to finish runners-up as they did in 2017 when he was a freshman.

He was right.

"Every single person on this team top-to-bottom did their part and was capable of doing whatever they needed to do whenever coach called upon them. We're a really good team," Westcott said. "It's the best feeling I've ever had. To come down here and do what we said we're going to do. Many months ago in winter weights, we said we were going to win a state championship, and that's what we did. It's awesome especially because it's coach Funkhouser's 700th and that's a great way to get your 700th win."

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