River Forest 11U baseball coach Matt Hickey attributed his team's victory in the state tournament to the team being resilient and talented.
The 11U River Forest baseball team went 4-1 in the state tournament to take home the Illinois State Championship. River Forest overcame deficits in three out of the five games they played in the state tournament.
Hickey called the experience "incredible" and said he appreciated the experience of coaching the team to the state title.
"Watching these kids come back three times, including in the championship game, is something I'll never forget, and I know the other coaches and all of our fans won't either," Hickey said.
Hickey said having a large fan base cheering his team on was a plus.
"I can't say enough about the support we received from our fans and RFYBS, both at the state tournament and all season long," Hickey said. "A number of 10U kids and their parents made the trip for the championship game, which meant a lot. Our cheering section made a huge impact during the title game."
The roster for the 11U River Forest baseball team is comprised of Matt Carolan Spike Gall Patrick Ganschow Luke Hickey Ben Jarnecke A.J. Kilburg Ryan Lazewski Nic Lissuzzo Dutch Navigato Ethan Niewoehner T.J. Nix Jimmy O'Brien Jack Paris; Coaches: Matt Hickey, Dennis Jarnecke, Joe Lazewski.
Results from the state tournament in Freeport are displayed in order below:
River Forest 7
Rochelle 6
River Forest 14
Clear Ridge 6
River Forest 6
Bradley-Bourbonnais 5
Tri-Cities 9
River Forest 2
River Forest 6
Tri-Cities 5
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