Jacob Lotz’s three-run homer helps Bishop McNamara pull away from Manteno in sectional semis

BEECHER – Jacob Lotz and the Bishop McNamara baseball team know that with the abundance of quality arms on their pitching staff, they don’t need to score very many runs to win games.

And with Callaghan O’Connor locked in on the mound in Thursday’s IHSA Class 2A Beecher Sectional semifinal against Manteno, Lotz knew he had the prime opportunity to break the Fightin’ Irish’s 1-0 lead open when he stepped in the batter’s box with two on and one out in the top of the sixth.

The senior did just that, smacking a three-run home run as part of a four-run McNamara fifth that proved to be the difference in the Irish’s 5-1 semifinal win at Sippel Memorial Field, advancing to Saturday’s championship game against Wilmington at 11 a.m.

“I think the stress was relieved for everybody,” Lotz said. “I saw it in the fans, the dugout got more chirpy. It’s a lot to tell your pitcher they only get one run of support. When you get four more, it’s a good feeling.”

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Bishop McNamara's Braylon Ricketts, left, and Preston Payne congratulate one another after the Fightin' Irish defeated Manteno 5-1 in the Class 2A Beecher Sectional semifinals Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

After Manteno (21-8) ended the previous two McNamara (27-7) seasons in the regional round, the Panthers looked like they’d be the first to score in their bid for a third straight postseason win over their longtime rivals.

With runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the first, Connor Harrod took O’Connor’s first-pitch fastball to right field for a single, prompting Andrew Norred to round third and head home. But Irish right fielder Dom Panozzo came up with a bullseye to catcher Braylon Ricketts, who tagged Norred out to end the first inning with a tone-setting play.

“It was the best I’ve ever seen it, which was awesome,” O’Connor said of the team’s defensive effort. “A great throw by Dom to cut that runner on, it was awesome. … It definitely [gave us a jolt] for sure."

O’Connor, who allowed an earned run on five hits and four strikeouts in 4 ⅔ innings, settled in quickly, as did Manteno starter Nolan Canfield. Save for Max Rohr’s third-inning single that plated Lotz, the Irish didn’t find themselves in many scoring opportunities as the game moved through the first four frames.

That changed in the fifth.

After Braylon Ricketts flew out to start the inning, Preston Payne walked and Taylor Fuerst doubled to put ducks on the pond for Lotz. After working a 2-0 count, Lotz sat on a fastball that he wound up getting, depositing it over the left-field fence for his sixth round-tripper of the year.

“It was 2-0, I looked down at [first-base coach Steve] Cantway, and he goes, ‘Don’t miss it, he’s going to give you one,’ and I got me one,” Lotz said. “It was awesome.”

Devin Arbour, the lone McNamara player with more than one hit, added another run with a two-out RBI double to give the Irish plenty of cushion with his second knock of the day.

The Panthers did open their share of the fifth with back-to-back singles from Quinn Borden and Jake Wendling – the former of whom scored on Brady Hespen’s groundout – but that was all the Panthers could manage before Payne came in to relieve O’Connor with two on and two out in the inning.

While O’Connor, a junior Notre Dame recruit, and Panozzo, a senior Illinois State commit, get the lion’s share of attention on the McNamara staff, head coach Kurt Quick knows that he has plenty of reliable arms at the ready.

“Cal did what we asked him to do,” Quick said. “We wanted four or five good innings, and we have a really deep pitching staff, so we did not hesitate to go to Preston Payne. … It’s a deep bullpen, and that definitely helps in the tournament."

After starting the season 8-0, the Panthers hit a four-game funk in mid-April before coming back around to heat back up by May and snap a four-year regional championship drought. Coach Matt Beckner was proud of the progress the Panthers made throughout.

“We just competed,” Beckner said. “Nobody wants to see it happen, but there’s only one [state] winner – or two if you want to be technical about it (with the third-place game) – but it’s one of those things where our guys just kept battling throughout the season and kept working on getting better."

Canfield allowed five earned runs on eight hits and four strikeouts before Braden Campbell tossed a pair of scoreless relief innings. Wendling had a pair of hits.