The Heartland baseball team competed for the Central District Championship on May 16, 2026, at the Corn Crib in Normal, Illinois. Fighting their way through the loser's bracket with strong bats and performances at the plate and in the field, the Hawks put together some gritty play on their final day of competition. The Parkland Cobras became their final opponent as the Hawks worked to win two games and advance to nationals.
Game one was a lights-out performance at the plate and another impressive outing from Trevor Rehnstrom. With 7.2 innings pitched, Rehnstrom faced 30 total batters during his time on the mound. He allowed seven hits and one run from the Cobras' offense. The right-handed sophomore completed his outing with two walks allowed and five strikeouts. Tyler Ledvina and Casey Giemzik worked together to end game one with the Cobras scoring five in nine innings.
Seven of the nine in the lineup collected multiple hits in their 43 at-bats. Dom Kooistra, TJ Jakubowski and Bennett Summers reached base with a hit in three at-bats. Jake Parpet went the distance with two home runs, driving in five total runs. The Hawks finished with 18 hits and 19 runs to outscore the Cobras by 14 runs.
They returned to the field for game two in a winner-take-all matchup for the true championship game. Despite the 12 hits and eight runs scored for the Hawks, they were unable to pull out the win when the Cobras found the bases, ending up on top, 21-8.
The Heartland baseball program finished its solid, competitive year with a 43-16 overall record and a 27-5 conference record.
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