Knights earn 2nd Place at State, best finish in program history
By Ray Popkess
There’s a certain level of toughness it takes to step back into the batter’s box or onto the pitching mound and forget about everything that came before that very moment. Only the next pitch matters and this Triad Baseball team embodied everything it means to keep fighting for a chance to go again, all season long.
The Triad Knights claimed their highest placement in school history at the 2026 IHSA Class 3A State Championship game on June 12 and 13, a State Runner-Up trophy in a game that concluded in the most dramatic fashion at Joliet Slammers Stadium.
Turning the clock back to how they punched their ticket to Joliet, the Knights first needed to get through a postponed Super-Sectional game against the Normal-University High Pioneers, a game originally scheduled for June 8 that was pushed to June 9 at Mt. Zion High School due to weather.
Super-Sectional
Matt Morris got the call on the bump for the Knights and kept them in control for most of the game through his four and two-thirds innings of work.
Triad crossed the plate first when Braxton Yates scored on a fielder’s choice after leading the first inning off with a single. He found his way on third base when Keegan Seipp batted him over with a single of his own.
The next run of the game didn’t come until Keegan Seipp led off the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run, his 16th of the season. Carter Gaskill then reached base on a dropped third strike two batters later. Nathan Klucker advanced the runner to second with a single up the middle and Auggie Bugger brought Gaskill home with a ground ball that led to the first baseman making an error attempting a double play.
Triad put up their fourth run in the bottom of the fourth by stringing together some baserunners. Kannon Seipp led the inning off with a full-count walk. Yates and Keegan Seipp both singled to load the bases. Keller made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly to the Pioneer center fielder.
In the top of the sixth, Normal-University High mounted a comeback that put them within striking distance. Brody Hasquin inherited the mound from Morris in the top of the fifth, ending the inning with a strikeout. In the sixth, Hasquin led the inning off by allowing a walk followed by a single. He secured the first two outs of the inning with a ground ball to Maddox Hunt at third base that put out the lead runner with a simple tag of the bag. The next out came on a flyout to left field. The next batter for the Pioneers pushed a home run over the left field fence, cutting the Knight lead to 4-3. Hasquin worked his way out of the inning by inducing another flyout to right field three batters later.
Normal-University High completed their comeback in the top of the seventh with Kody Anderson on the mound for the Knights. Anderson got the first out of the inning with a pop fly to centerfield. He then plunked the next two Pioneers, and the next batter singled home the game-tying run. After the runner on first advanced to second on a wild pitch, the next Pioneer batter was granted an intentional walk to load the bases. Anderson was substituted for Grayson Yank. Yank then worked himself into a full count with the next batter, leading to another fly ball towards Yates in center. Yates fielded the out and uncorked a missile to catcher Kade Rocca to gun down the runner tagging up from third, ending the inning with a critical double play.
Triad also loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with three consecutive two-out walks. Yates then lined out to the right fielder to force the game into extra innings.
Yank shut the Pioneers down in the top of the eighth with only eight pitches.
Keegan Seipp led off the bottom of the eighth by getting hit by the sixth pitch of his at-bat. Brock Becker pinch ran for Seipp to put some extra speed on the basepath. Keller followed that up with a double to left field, leading the Pioneers to intentionally walk Gaskill in the next at-bat. Klucker bounced a ball to third base that led to a force out at home. Bugger then stepped to the plate with hopes to end the game on his terms. The fourth pitch of his at-bat was a bouncing ball that the catcher couldn’t handle cleanly as it careened toward the backstop. This gave Keller plenty of time to score the winning run from third standing up.
State Championship Semifinal
An exciting walk-off win in the Super-Sectional was only a taste of what was in store for the Knights in Joliet. Their next matchup came against the Crystal Lake South Gators on Friday, June 12.
Nolan Keller got the call for the Knights as their pitcher and was coming off a complete game against the Mascoutah Indians in the Sectional Championship. He put his 5-0 career playoff record on the line against a Gator team that put up 27 runs in their five games leading up to the State Semifinal.
Triad batted first as the away team in the top of the first, but had a quiet frame at the plate with three batted balls that found Gator gloves.
Keller surrendered the first hit of the game in the bottom of the first with a leadoff single, but CLS was blanked in their first turn at the plate despite knocking a two-out double two batters later.
The teams traded unfruitful hits until the top of the fourth when Keegan Seipp led the inning off with a base hit. Gaskill cracked the scoreboard by doubling two batters later, and despite the centerfielder for CLS bobbling the ball, Seipp still had to slide into home to avoid a potential tag. Klucker drew a walk in the next at-bat, and Kade Rocca brought Gaskill home to score with a single into left field.
Once Triad put up a crooked number, Keller knew what he had to do to finish the game. “After we got that run, I thought ‘Now, we have to settle in. Now we have to trust our stuff, trust our infield, trust our outfield, trust our coaches and just go out there and get outs. Just be me.’”
Head Coach Jesse Bugger touched on his thoughts after taking the lead. “Up until that point in the game, we weren’t settling in very well. We were anxious and you could see we were doing some things that we haven’t done very often over the course of the season. They were relaxed enough to show their toughness and score a couple of runs.”
In the bottom of the fourth, Crystal Lake South tried to rally back with consecutive two-out singles. Their fifth batter of the inning then bounced the ball towards Triad second baseman Kody Anderson. Anderson attempted to glove flip the ball to shortstop Kannon Seipp covering second for the force out, but the ball sailed too high. Anderson recovered the ball midair, and threw a strike to Rocca at home to catch the runner attempting to advance on the error for the third out.
Anderson and Seipp described the play after the game. “I got a little sped up, so I made a glove flip because I thought that was my only choice. But I just got lucky that it landed right in front of me so I could get the runner at home,” said Anderson.
“I saw him go for the [flip] and I was kind of surprised that he had the nerve to do that on this stage,” joked Kannon Seipp. “I knew once he picked it up and saw the runner going home, he had him. I have all the confidence in the world in Kody.”
From there, both teams’ bats were shut down for the most part. The Gators picked up three hits, one in each of the remaining three innings. Keller finished the seventh on the mound with another complete game shutout under his belt. He surrendered eight hits, one walk and collected two strikeouts on 98 pitches.
With the Semifinal victory, Triad Baseball earned a spot in their first ever State Championship game. They had previously been to the State Semifinal three times prior to this year.
State Championship
If there were ever a high school baseball game that deserved national attention, this was it. The Triad Knights and St. Rita Mustangs squared off for a chance to win either school’s first IHSA State Title. Triad had already solidified their highest placement in school history and set a new school record with 36 overall wins on the season, and St. Rita was seeking to get over the hump having finished second three times in Class 4A this century.
Triad once again was slated as the away team and batted first. Yates put the first crooked number up on the scoreboard by leading the game off with a base hit. Keegan Seipp followed him up with a walk to put the pressure on St. Rita’s ace early. Two batters later, Gaskill got his day started with an RBI single that gave Triad an early 1-0 lead. With two outs in the inning, Bugger singled home Seipp to make it 2-0, but the Knights’ lead would not last long.
Brody Hasquin was called on to pitch first for Triad. It’s worth noting that he pitched on a torn meniscus in his left knee, the same knee he injured during football season last fall and the leg he plants his foot with to deliver his pitches. Coach Bugger had commendable words for him after the game. “Since we played on Tuesday, we knew we were going to have a bullpen game tonight. He postponed surgery to play…and we asked him to pitch today. He pitched in the Super…We ask a lot of our guys. We give them a lot, I think. But we appreciate how much that they’re willing to do.”
Hasquin got two quick outs on a flyout to center and a lineout to second base. Then, a single, a walk, an RBI double and a two-RBI single put the Mustangs in the lead, 3-2. St. Rita’s next batter then connected with a ball that was lined hard into left field. The ball seemingly ricocheted off the top of the wall and took a high bounce back toward Bugger in left center. However, the umpires quickly ruled the hit a homerun, a call worth arguing from Triad’s perspective. After the officiating crew convened for a brief discussion, the call on the field stood and the home run was legitimized, making the score 5-2.
Triad got one run back in the top of the second on an RBI triple from Keegan Seipp that scored Yates, who drew a two-out walk.
The Knights cut the deficit to one with another two-out RBI hit in the top of the third. Kade Rocca seeded his first hit of the game into left field that scored Gaskill, who doubled to lead off the inning. Rocca was thrown out by the Mustang catcher attempting to stretch his hit into a double.
Hasquin surrendered two more hits in the bottom of the third, but escaped the inning unscathed. He collected a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Then came the rain. Around 2:15 p.m. local time, a light shower began to fall on Slammers Stadium. By 3:15 p.m., the teams were warmed on the field and ready to restart.
Triad earned one base runner in the top of the fourth, a Kannon Seipp walk, but could not muster anything more.
St. Rita extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth against Anderson. He hit their first batter on pitch number five and gave up two singles subsequently, allowing one run to score and putting runners at first and third. The next Mustang batter grounded into a double play, scoring the runner 90 feet away. That was all St. Rita could push across in that frame, making the score 7-4.
Triad was blanked again in the top of the fifth as they left two runners on base due to an error and a hit by pitch.
The Mustangs opened the floodgates in their half of the fifth, leading off the inning with three consecutive singles. Grayson Yank was on the mound to start the fifth, and picked up a strikeout after giving up the three hits. An errant throw on a squeeze bunt allowed two more runs to score for St. Rita in the next at-bat, pushing runners to second and third. Following an intentional walk to load the bases, St. Rita picked up another single that scored a run. Their next batter reached on an error, pushing their lead to 11-4. Lefty Pearce Goodfield was then called on to pitch and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, it was Triad’s turn to load the bases with a one-out hit from Kannon Seipp, Yates getting beaned below his left shoulder and Keegan Seipp moving his teammates around with a single. Keller then singled up the middle, scoring Kannon and Yates. Gaskill was next at the plate, and he laced a double into the left field gap that scored Keegan. The score was now 11-7, and the Knights were crawling their way back into the game.
Goodfield sat down the Mustangs in order in the bottom of the sixth with a ground out, line out and a strikeout.
The top of the seventh is an inning neither side will soon forget. Maddox Hunt led the top half of the frame off with a single, his first hit of the day. He later advanced to second on a passed ball during Kannon Seipp’s next at-bat. Seipp grounded out but pushed Hunt over to third. Yates then sent a rocket off his bat to the second baseman’s glove on a 3-1 count, yielding the second out. Keegan Seipp then walked on five pitches. Keller doubled home the next run, putting Seipp at third and himself on second with Gaskill stepping in the box and the Knights down three runs with one out left to stay alive.
On a 1-1 count, Gaskill popped a pitch up into foul territory toward the first base dugout. St. Rita’s catcher popped out of his stance, tore off his facemask and tracked the ball toward the fence. He reached up with his left hand and watched the ball into his mit…but as his momentum carried him away from Triad’s bench, the ball slid out of his grasp and bounced away. Chaos ensued. The Mustang bench cleared in celebration, fireworks exploded in the evening sky, but the home plate umpire had his finger pointed toward his crewmember down the first base line. The first base umpire signaled “safe,” indicating that the ball landed foul and was NOT put out by the catcher. Gaskill had new life at the plate.
When asked what was going through his mind during the sequence, he was unsure. “I don’t really know. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. I thought I was out. I came back and knew the pitcher was hitable.”
Gaskill stepped back into the box and took ball two. The next pitch was fouled off, still a 2-2 count. Pitch six of the at-bat was crushed foul into the right field safety net above the on-field bullpen. Pitch seven was something no one expected except Gaskill. He turned on an inside pitch and jacked a game-tying, three-run home run over the right field fence, out of reach of a leaping right fielder. His relentlessness sent onlookers into pandemonium.
“I found my pitch and hit it as well as I could.” On the pitch before, were you thinking ‘Don’t throw me another one like that?’ “I was thinking that before the at-bat. I pieced that [foul ball] and I knew that I could do it.”
Standing at second base, Keller was not expecting to trot home and meet Gaskill there. “I saw the [catcher] drop it and I looked at the home plate umpire and he pointed at the first base umpire and [he] said ‘you dropped it’. They were all celebrating while I was still on second. I had faith that once Carter had new life, we were in a good spot.” Were you expecting a three-run bomb? “I was not,” he said with a smile.
With the game tied, Triad carried that momentum into the bottom of the seventh on defense. Goodfield sat down the Mustangs in order once again and Triad was back up at the plate.
The Knights couldn’t get any runners on base in the top of the eighth and needed another shutdown inning to keep their hopes at a state championship alive.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Mustangs drew a walk with their leadoff hitter. A sacrifice bunt down the third base line gave Triad the first out of the inning, but St. Rita had the winning run in scoring position. An intentional walk created a force play at any base for the Knights with one out. The next Mustang batter pushed a single towards Yates in centerfield but the third base coach held his runner, well aware that Yates could’ve taken that runner off the basepath with his arm. With the bases loaded and one out, St. Rita popped a fly ball deep into foul territory near the away team bullpen. Gaskill trusted himself to get the out and make a play to throw home and catch the runner tagging up but his throw was not in time. St. Rita ended one of the most ridiculous state championship games on a small-ball play by a final score of 12-11.
After the game, Yates touched on his feelings about his senior season with Triad Baseball and what the state title game meant to him. “It was an absolute blast. Well, it was still a blast today. I feel like we played the most exciting game of the season and of my life. It’s just been so much fun playing with my guys and Coach Bugg and I wouldn’t want to play for anybody else. I love this program.”
Coach Bugger had fond words to say about this senior class. “Y’know, they’re big keys to the last couple years and they’re a small group, but they’ve all made huge contributions. …They are very enjoyable to be around and believed in what we were doing. They fought till the bitter end and they really improved as players. They’re good people and they’re going to be alright.”
Later, he talked about the fight he saw in this year’s team and the winning culture they’ve maintained. “This is our team with the most accolades, for sure. I don’t know if we’re the most talented team but we are by far the toughest team we’ve had.”
The Knights finish the season with a 36-6 record, the most wins in program history and come home with some IHSA hardware. They return the majority of players they took with them to the state tournament and hope to pick up where they left off this year.
