Wake Forest recruit TJ McQuillan revs up as Mount Carmel routs Naperville Central for third place in Class 4A
· Yahoo Sports
TJ McQuillan would certainly have preferred for his Mount Carmel baseball career not to end with a third-place game.
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But there was a positive. McQuillan, a third baseman, was able to enjoy his final game with a special group of fellow seniors who have definitely left their mark on the Caravan program.
“We have 22 seniors on this team and we’ve all been in big playoff games together,” McQuillan said. “It was cool to soak it in and know it was our last game together.
“In past years, we would go into a game thinking we were going to win it earlier in the playoffs and a lot of tears were shed. This time, we’re all happy, hanging out and being grateful.”
And they went out with a win. McQuillan, a Wake Forest recruit, went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run Saturday night as Mount Carmel rolled to an 11-2 victory over Naperville Central in the Class 4A third-place game at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.
Davenport commit Mario Medina finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Caravan (31-11), while Cullen Winters added a pair of RBIs and Cylis Rainey went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Miami recruit Ian Tosi struck out seven and allowed one earned run on just two hits over five innings to earn the victory for Mount Carmel, which won the fifth state trophy in program history and first since 2015.
“It was fun to win your last high school game,” McQuillan said. “No one really wants to play in the third-place game, but it’s better than losing your last game. It was cool to even get here.”
After Naperville Central (30-11) scored the game’s first run in the first inning, Mount Carmel responded with the next nine.
Rainey, a freshman who saw most of his varsity playing time as a pitcher and made eight appearances on the mound this season, took advantage of a rare start in right field and got the Caravan rolling with an RBI single in the second inning. He also doubled and scored in the fifth.
“I’m super excited about next year,” Rainey said. “I’m glad I had this senior class. They’re good guys and I learned a lot from them. I tried to soak it all in from them.”
Especially McQuillan.
“Watching TJ in batting practice, every ball he just barrels up hard,” Rainey said. “His work ethic is the big thing. Every day, he’s the first one there and he’s always the last one to leave.”
That certainly paid off this spring. McQuillan hit .464 and led Mount Carmel in home runs with seven, in RBIs with 45 and in runs with 60.
Caravan coach Brian Hurry knows how special of a season it was.
“TJ has had one of the best careers in Mount Carmel history and that’s saying something,” Hurry said. “There have been a lot of great players who have come through here.
“The year he had this season … think about all the expectations and there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that. But, man, did he exceed all of that.”
McQuillan battled injuries early in his Mount Carmel career, but he put it all together at the end.
“A kid like TJ is irreplaceable,” Hurry said. “I’m very proud of him. He works. He’s always the first one there. He does extra hitting. He’s in the weight room before the team gets there.
“His success on the field is earned.”
McQuillan will now await next month’s MLB draft. It’s possible he will get picked early enough to consider skipping college. If not, Wake Forest is waiting.
Either way, the future is bright as one heck of a chapter came to a close Saturday night.
“I’ve got a lot of good options here, whether it’s pro ball or college,” McQuillan said. “Hopefully, I’ll have more fun than I had here, but this is going to be hard to beat.
“This group of guys is so awesome and I’m really going to miss it.”