Libertyville’s Chase Lockwood pitched eight innings to win a state semifinal last season, so the senior right-hander remained confident when he got into trouble on Tuesday.
So did Lockwood’s teammates and coaches.
“He’s the guy we believe in to see it through to the end,” Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said. “We knew when the pressure was on, he’s going to be the guy to deliver.”
Pitching with a one-run lead in the Class 4A Schaumburg Supersectional against Lane Tech, Lockwood stranded three runners in the sixth and overcame a leadoff single and a hit batsman in the seventh as the defending state champion Wildcats pulled out a 2-1 win at Wintrust Field.
“We’ve been on the same team every year since we’ve been 8, and he’s always been the guy you want on the mound,” Libertyville senior shortstop Trevor Wallace said. “Tonight, we really saw that.”
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Senior first baseman Braden Tolzien hit two doubles to drive in both runs for Libertyville (29-10-1), which advanced to the state semifinals for the second straight season to play Mount Carmel (30-10) at Slammers Stadium in Joliet at 7 p.m. Friday.
Lockwood, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound Illinois State recruit who became the Wildcats’ all-time wins leader with 30, allowed six hits, walked one, hit one and struck out seven. The only run the Champions (33-7) scored against him was unearned.
Throughout the game, Lockwood kept it simple.
“If you lose, you’re done,” he said. “If you go out and compete, you’ll be OK.”
Lockwood faced just two batters over the minimum through the first five innings, and Libertyville led 2-0 going into the top of the sixth.
Lane Tech started that inning with singles by junior center fielder Isaiah Martin and freshman shortstop Paris Head. After a sacrifice bunt, Lockwood walked junior third baseman Tanner Toback, and Martin then scored on an error.
But Lockwood struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning.
“I felt myself getting a little tired, and I just had to take myself back out of it and suck it up,” Lockwood said. “This is the bed you made, and you’ve got to lay in it, and you better get yourself out of it for your team. That’s what I did. I just had to compete.”
The pressure of the moment was palpable among the fans, but Lockwood was calm during a mound visit after the run scored.
“That sixth inning, he didn’t think anything negative,” Wallace said. “He just said he was missing his spots, and that’s it. He wanted the ball and knew he could do it. Everyone else knew he could too. I knew. He knew.
“We were like, ‘Chase, you’re going to shut them down right here,’ and he goes out and gets those strikeouts.”
In the seventh, Lane Tech junior first baseman Miles Mazanowski hit a leadoff single to the wall in left field, and Lockwood hit Martin two batters later.
But Libertyville junior catcher Ryan Wilberding, a Marshall recruit, threw out Mazanowski’s pinch runner at second from his knees on a steal attempt, and Head lined out to right to end the game.
The outcome was similar to Libertyville’s 2-1 win over Normal in the state semifinals last year. Lockwood said that outing is the only one that rivals how fired up he felt on Tuesday.
It’s a complete turnaround from the shellacking he endured against Conant in the 2024 sectional semifinals, when the Wildcats lost 16-4.
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“That game was not nice to me,” Lockwood said. “That stuck in my head. It honestly showed me that I wasn’t ready, and I had to sit myself down and look myself in the mirror and say, ‘Look, you weren’t good enough.’ I think that was a big part of where I’m at today.”
Lockwood proved he could win in big spots last year, and he has won three of Libertyville’s five games during this postseason.
“Last year was a big year for me,” he said. “I developed the mindset that it’s just another game and you have to slow yourself down.
“It’s me against them. If I can limit my nerves, I know they all have nerves. It’s a game of less nerves.”
Lockwood won’t be able to pitch again this season. Because the supersectional was rescheduled from Monday, he doesn’t have enough mandatory rest days before the state championship game on Saturday.
“It does stink that I can’t pitch, but I have a lot of trust in our pitching staff, and we have a good chance of bringing this thing home,” he said.
Lockwood, who broke the program wins record held by Chris Fulbright since 1996, can affect the game in other ways. He’s batting .333 with 15 RBIs.
“I worked my tail off, and it’s super fun to see all the hard work pay off,” Lockwood said. “I came into this game and knew this could be it and knew I had to leave it all out there.
“So now I’m going to give it my best shot and help put these guys into position to win another title.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.