The Illiana Christian Varsity Vikings won a back-and-forth men’s varsity baseball thriller Friday, walking off the Hanover Central Varsity Wildcats 9-8 in eight innings at Illiana Christian High School. With the score tied at eight in the bottom of the eighth, Nick DeBlock laced an RBI single to end it.
The lead changed hands repeatedly. After Hanover Central jumped ahead 4-1 in the second on RBI hits from Gavin Henison and Geoffrey Resney and a Dylan Bowen sacrifice fly, the Vikings reclaimed it 6-5 in the third. Jonathan Sitter’s RBI double pushed the edge to 7-6 in the fourth before the Wildcats scratched back to tie. Creasbaum’s RBI single in the sixth put Hanover Central up 8-7, only for Sitter to even it again with a single down the right field line.
Tyler Hutton earned the win in relief, allowing one run on two hits over three innings with four strikeouts. Ian Flores took the loss for Hanover Central.
Sitter went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Vikings’ 12-hit attack to lead the Vikings, supported by Logan VanProoyen and Aden Batz who also chipped in multiple hits. Creasbaum finished with two hits along with an RBI and a run as the catalyst in a losing effort for Hanover.
