Prep Baseball: Warriors ready for playoff push

Westminster Christian began preparing for the 2008 Class 1A playoffs 347 days ago.

That's when the Warriors saw their 2007 postseason run come to an end with a 12-1 loss against Pickneyville in the Class A state quarterfinals at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.

With every player from last year's squad returning this spring, expectations were higher than ever for Westminster. So far, the Warriors have largely lived up to the hype, earning the No. 1 seed in their sub-sectional and compiling a 22-9 record against a challenging schedule that included only two fellow Class 1A teams.

"Our whole schedule that we put together this year was geared toward seeing the best competition possible so we'd be prepared at the end of the season," Westminster coach Jeff Moeller said. "I think we've played a pretty good schedule for single A."

Meanwhile, St. Edward, Hampshire and Genoa-Kingston are also beginning postseason play on the Class 2A level this week. The Whip-Purs and Cogs both will compete at the Stillman Valley Regional while the Green Wave is heading to the Aurora Christian Regional.

Here is a regional-by-regional look at the upcoming postseason:

• At Ashton-Franklin Center Class 1A Regional Offensive success combined with solid pitching have been Westminster's keys to success this season.

The Warriors are averaging nine runs per game and have five players batting .365 or better. Senior Cory Hodge is enjoying tremendous success at the plate, leading the area through last Friday with a .538 average and 38 runs scored to go along with four home runs and 23 RBIs.

Seniors Ben Palmer and Casey Schuring and junior Brandon Siewert anchor the Warriors' pitching rotation. Palmer is the ace of the staff and sports a 5-3 record, a 1.57 ERA and 73 strikeouts.

Westminster could potentially be without catcher Carter Ward, who is a key part of the team's offensive attack with an area-best seven home runs and 41 RBIs. He missed the Warriors' previous four games with a right hamstring injury and his earliest possible return would be Saturday's regional final.

The Warriors have been scuffling going into the postseason, losing five of their past six games. However, with Westminster hosting the sectional, there is plenty of inspiration for the Warriors to capture the regional crown.

Kirkland-Hiawatha is the only team in the regional the Warriors played during the regular season. Westminster cruised to a 14-0 5-inning triumph in that meeting on April 7. Should the Warriors advance to Saturday's regional title game, it would play either No. 4 Ashton-Franklin Center or No. 6 Alden-Hebron.

"We're just trying to get focused and get our minds on the postseason because we know it's one (loss) and you're done," Palmer said. "We're going to treat every game like the state championship until we hopefully get down (to Joliet)."