RENSSELAER | Knox knocked out Calumet 22-8 in a first round Class 3A Rensselaer Sectional game Saturday morning, snapping a 25-game losing streak in the process.
So what do the Redskins (3-25) get for their efforts.
"Congratulations, you get the two-time (defending) state champion Andrean 59ers," Knox baseball coach Kevin Hannon said. "So, we're going to use it as a learning experience. We are so young.
"I can't even explain how young we are with freshmen and sophomores and kids who haven't played at the varsity level until this year. But, we're going to go out there and play baseball and see what happens."
Knox will face Andrean at 10 a.m. Monday before Rensselaer battles Griffith in the second semifinal game. The championship is set for 4:30 p.m.
Calumet (2-21) opened with five runs in the top of the first inning, but the advantage was short lived. The Redskins rallied for 10 runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 10-5 lead and tacked on seven runs over the next two innings for a 17-5 bulge.
"We just kind of lost it," Calumet coach Roger Azbill said. "It's kind of the storybook year for us this year. We've still got quite a few guys trying to learn."
Calumet starter K.C. Waleski struggled from the outset, walking three batters in the first inning. Knox also took advantage of two errors in the first for the big inning.
"He's been our go-to guy," Azbill said. "Normally, if we have a bad day on the mound it's due to the fact of errors and not hitting the ball too well. He's my strike man. He throws nothing but strikes.
"Today, he just didn't have his best stuff."
Calumet committed five errors on the day, and nine of Knox's runs were unearned.
"That's kind of been our nemesis this year," Azbill said. "We haven't fielded very well behind what pitching we did have. Hopefully, we'll get better. We're still rough around the edges."
Colton Meeks hit a double, a single and had three RBIs to lead the Warriors, while Mike Pavlinac added a double.
"I can't wait until next year," the junior Waleski said. "Everybody improved a lot from the start of the season to the end of the year."
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