The year is 1967. The Doors released their debut album. The Boston Red Sox win the America League pennant during an amazing season where they had not won an AL championship since 1946. The Graduate was a box office success starring a young Dustin Hoffman in a coming-of-age story that won an Oscar for best direction.
For Marshall Junior High School baseball, the year 1967 is significant because it was the last time the Cubs won a regional championship – that is, until this year. 58 years between regional titles, 58 years of ending each and every season with a defeat in the regional round of the IESA state tournament.
With a 3-2 victory last Wednesday over cross-county rival Casey-Westfield, the Cubs ended a nearly six-decade drought. With the win over the Braves, Marshall’s squad took the 17-mile trip back home celebrating their huge win which advanced them to the Sweet Sixteen of the Class 2A state tournament. Being one of only 16 teams left standing is a remarkable achievement for the Marshall Nine.
On Saturday, September 20th, the Cubs played in the Sectional Championship game against a squad with a history of championships at the Junior High School level unparalleled in the state of Illinois, and a victory in the sectional would advance the Cubs to the IESA Class 2A state finals with a berth in the Elite Eight.
Standing in the Cubs’ path were the Teutopolis Junior High School Wooden Shoes. To put the David vs. Goliath matchup in perspective, the Wooden Shoes have an elite program at the junior high level. During the entire lifetimes of every Marshall player spanning a total of 14 years, the Teutopolis JH baseball team has been to the IESA State Finals every single year but two, 2017 and 2020. There was no state tournament in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, so the Wooden Shoes have gone to 12 of the past 13 state finals, and a total of 19 times in this century. When you look at the Wooden Shoes’ track record, you get the feeling that this isn’t a one-time opponent to advance to the state championship round.
Marshall entered the sectional championship coming off two one-run wins over Newton (2-1) and Casey-Westfield (3-2) in the Casey-Westfield Regional, while Teutopolis came in off wins over Kinmundy South Central, Stew-Stras, and Cumberland in the T-Town Invitational, er, Teutopolis Regional. In their three ballgames, T-Town scored 31 runs on the friendly confines of their home diamond, the same site of today’s sectional championship game (does Teutopolis host every state tournament round in junior high school sports until we get to the state finals?).
The Cubs, who have played well this season, relying on their pitching and defense while manufacturing just enough runs to win both games during the regional round. The Cubs sent Jackson Wakefield to the mound in this game, and Wakefield pitched very well, keeping the Wooden Shoes bats silent by mixing up speeds and location. Marshall’s defense backed up Wakefield in the first inning when Teutopolis led the inning with a single. With a runner on third base and two outs, T-Town’s cleanup hitter laced a shot between third and short. Marshall’s Macallister Richardson went to his left at the hot corner and made a great stop on the ball. Richardson got up and threw the batter out at first to end the scoring threat.
Marshall finally broke the pitchers’ duel in the top of the third. With one out in the inning, Max Eastin singled on a line drive to centerfield. Next into the batter’s box came Macallister Richardson, who promptly laced a double down the left field line. Eastin came all the way around from first base to score Marshall’s first run of the game. With Richardson in scoring position at second base, a dropped third strike and throw to first for the putout occurred for the second out, but Teutopolis did not recognize Richardson racing around third base on the passed ball. With Richardson not stopping as he rounded third, he sprinted for home plate and beat the tag at the plate to steal a run to make it 2-0 in favor of the Cubs.
With Wakefield humming along on the mound, Marshall manufactured another run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Kale Platt, who was running for Jackson Wakefield on the basepaths, broke for home on a wild pitch and scored the third run of the game for Marshall. Going to the bottom of the fifth, the Cubs led 3-0.
Anticipation of what could be is a hard emotion to keep in check when you’re in the heat of the moment, for beginning in the bottom of the fifth inning, Marshall’s defense faltered down the stretch. In the fifth, Teutopolis scored two unearned runs to tighten the game to a one-run affair with the Cubs clinging precariously to a 3-2 lead going to the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, the Wooden Shoes took all the wind out of the Marshall sails by scoring three more runs as the error bug bit Marshall (the Cubs committed six errors in the contest). A 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning ended Marshall’s magical season with a 5-3 loss to Teutopolis, which advanced to the state finals for the seventh consecutive year.
12 wins against 5 losses (2 to state finals participants), the first regional championship in 58 years on their rival’s home field, taking the vaunted Wooden Shoes all the way to the end with a chance to go to the state finals, being one of only 16 teams still standing in the entire state of Illinois in Class 2A state – this 2025 Marshall Junior High School baseball season will be tucked away as a core memory for the players, coaches, and families.
The future of Marshall baseball is very bright as long as the athletes stay focused on their craft, play for each other, and learn how to block out nerves and yips when the atmosphere is big. All the success that Teutopolis has at the junior high level does not translate to the high school level with the same success. Hitting the batting cage, maintaining offensive and defensive skills, and hitting the weight room as they get older will be vital for future success. “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
Congratulations to all the players, coaches, families, and fans for a great junior high school baseball season.