Washington surpassed the 20-victory benchmark for the second straight baseball season.

The Panthers were 23-12 against a tough schedule and repeated as Mid-Illini Conference champions with an 11-3 mark.

“To battle through and win the conference was a huge stride to make,” WCHS head coach Kevin Brown said.

Not only did Washington lose several key players from last year’s Class AA state third-place finisher, but it was hit by injuries this spring.

The pitching staff got thinner and players often had to play less-familiar positions in the field to compensate.

Still, the Panthers found a way to keep winning and shared the title with Limestone in a league that is competitive from top-to-bottom in baseball.

After a 2-5 start to the year, Washington ran off 14 wins in its next 16 games.

One of those wins was a 4-3 decision in an April 9 night game in Bartonville over a Limestone squad that was the preseason favorite.

“That opened our eyes to how good we could be,” said Brown.

Another notable triumph came May 1 against Canton, a 19-6 rout at home in five innings. Sophomore Ryan Harkins was the winner in his first career start.

In the first M-I meeting a month earlier, the Little Giants blanked the Panthers, 9-0.

Although Washington lost in the Class 3A Metamora Regional quarterfinals to the Redbirds, its first loss to Metamora in six games in 2007-08, the campaign was positive.

“I feel like the team did have some great accomplishments this year,” Brown said.

Senior Hayden Shaver led Washington with a .365 batting average and was the team co-leader with 27 RBI.

He had a sturdy .430 on-base percentage and transformed himself into a reliable
outfielder. Shaver hit a robust .442 in conference games.

Alex Wilson, a junior, also drove in 27 runs and smacked three home runs while batting .358.

Wilson’s 16 extra-base hits gave him a team-best .550 slugging percentage. His .449 on-base average also paced the Panthers.

Senior Mike Schwenk was a steady offensive contributor with a .342 average, three long balls and 19 RBI.

Schwenk walked more than he struck out and delivered a .397 on-base percentage while slugging .495.

Marshall Escue, a sophomore, went 7-2 with a 2.33 earned-run average and struck out a team-high 46 in 57 innings.

He also was a .354 batter with 20 RBI. His on-base average was .398.

Junior Ben Worner led Washington pitchers in wins (8-1) and ERA (2.05) working 41 innings.

He was 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA in five Mid-Illini appearances.

At 2.75, senior Austin Fisher also posted a sub-3.00 ERA. In 43 1/3 innings, he fanned 38 and walked only seven.

Fisher hit .288 with 11 RBI and his team-leading 14 walks produced a .424 on-base percentage.

Junior David Dalfonso led the Panthers with six steals and turned a .274 batting average into a .421 on-base rate with double-figure walks. He knocked in 13 runs.

Dustin Grebner, a junior, supplied 13 RBI in 23 games while hitting .270. His two sacrifice flies were the most on the squad.

With 19 hits, seven of which went for extra bases, junior Robert Hodges amassed 15 RBI.

In just 19 at-bats, junior Mike Zehr drove in six runs and provided a .316 average. Classmate Cody Maddock finished at .320.

Harkins was 3-0 with a 3.26 ERA in 19 1/3 innings.

Overall, Washington hit .307 and compiled a 3.20 staff ERA.

In two-out situations, Fisher, Schwenk and Wilson all hit .333.

With runners in scoring position, Escue, Hodges, Maddock, Schwenk and Shaver all were over .400.

Wilson was dynamite (4-for-5) with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Maddock limited foes to a .063 average on the mound when there were two outs.

Washington will be well-represented on the all-conference lists.

Brown is stepping down from the baseball head-coach position to concentrate solely on boys basketball.

He said he loves coaching baseball, but the time commitment for two varsity sports was substantial. Brown also was missing offseason baseball workouts while coaching basketball.

Brown added he has no regrets about his decision two years ago to take the baseball post.

His teams produced a 54-24 record and won 7-of-9 postseason games.

“There’s no doubt in my mind they have a nice core of players left,” said Brown.