After seeing the Rockets pound lumps on the Abernathy kid Monday, in a game that meant going to state or not going to state, I’m not sure anyone they’ll see in Joliet will be able to stop them from hitting the baseball. I haven’t seen any of the other teams that will be at state this Friday; there’s always a chance you’ll run into that one pitcher from a small town you’ve never heard of that strikes out 15 people in a game, but this doesn’t look like one of those years — unless it’s Joe Zeller from li’l old Jacksonville.

I’ll say it: the four-class system has made it easier for a good team like Routt to get to Joliet. In a two-class system, teams like Astoria would probably have been weeded out long before super-sectionals. But the way Routt has so completely dominated the teams it’s faced so far, I don’t think anyone could argue that the Rockets wouldn’t be right where they are now, regardless of how many classes there were (well, maybe unless there was just one).

And the fact remains, they had to do it. It’s one thing to say, OK, we’ve got to focus, we’ve got to hit, we’ve got to field and we’ve got to pitch like we have all year now that we’re in the playoffs, and it’s another thing entirely to go out and do it. There are plenty of good baseball teams waiting for football practice to start and wondering what might have been. This Routt bunch has been locked in and focused on the task at hand, yet still has been playing as loose and with as much confidence as if nothing at all was at stake these past two weeks.

Well, there’s still plenty at stake.

Is Routt too good to lose in Joliet?

You can bet on it.

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