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Team Illinois Game Two And Three Recaps

July 26, 2025
By: Peter Hamot
Assistant Scouting Director, Illinois & Wisconsin

Game Two

Team Illinois fell to Team Missouri 8-2 in game two, evening up their record at 1-1 on the week.

Illinois got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning on an error by the catcher, plating C Tristan Steger (St. Laurence, 2027) who reached on a walk earlier in the frame.

The only other run that came across was in the bottom of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly from INF Kaden Wasniewski (McHenry, 2027), scoring OF Tyler Gluting (Metea Valley, 2027) who reached via an error to lead off the frame.

The aforementioned Steger was the offensive winner from the day, leading the team in hits with two including a double. Wasniewski, INF Carson Trivellini (Crystal Lake Central, 2027), INF/OF Gavin Stanislawski (Brother Rice, 2027), 1B Keegan Seipp (Triad, 2027) and CIF Brady Cunningham (Brother Rice, 2027) each chipped in with a hit apiece.

On the mound, RHP Kash VanHouten (Canton, 2027) got the starting nod, going two scoreless frames with just one hit allowed, two strikeouts and one walk. The athletic right-hander showed his usual lively fastball, sitting 87-90 mph and topping at 91 mph with carry. The slider looked like a quality secondary, playing over 2,400 rpm in the mid-70s. He also flashed feel for a changeup in the 81-82 mph range.

Following VanHouten was LHP Jimmy Benson (St. Laurence, 2027), who allowed just one run over his two innings of work, striking out four against one walk. The long-limbed, 6-foot-8 southpaw gives an extremely tough look for opposing hitters, garnering uncomfortable swings on his low-80s fastball routinely. He also showed a shorter 2/8 slider in the low-80s and upper-70s changeup to pair.

RHP Cullen Schwigen (Rockridge, 2027) followed and struck out four over his two innings of work. The QB1 has an athletic arm that plays from a shorter action out of the glove, sitting 86-88 mph with the fastball and topping at 89 mph - also showing some spin feel for a low-70s curveball.

The final arm for the Illinois squad was the aforementioned Gluting from Metea Valley, and the southpaw gave an electric look with a fastball up to 94.7 mph.

TOP PERFORMANCES:

Kash VanHouten: 2IP, H, 0R, BB, 2K

Tristan Steger: 2-for-2, R

Kaden Wasniewski: 1-for-1, RBI, BB

Game Three

In a border rivalry game, Team Illinois fell to team Wisconsin 10-6 to cap off their week.

It took a couple innings to get the bats going, but the scoring started in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Stanislawski, plating OF Josh Morgan (Fenwick, 2027) who reached on a walk. Morgan would score the next run the Illinois squad scored in the bottom of the sixth, reaching on a double and later coming in on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Schwigen.

INF Andrew Talbert (Byron, 2027) would plate the next run with a triple, scoring Cunningham who led the inning off with a walk - and Talbert would immediately score on a sac fly from Gluting. The final run came in on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Wasniewski, plating Gluting.

Right-handers Mason Rychetsky (Kennedy, 2027) and James Wasson (Nazareth, 2027) are a couple long-levered arms that both worked their fastballs up to 90 mph.

RHP Traxton Roberts (Armstrong, 2027) was a big bright spot for the Illinois squad on the mound, earning Pitcher of the Game honors after he fired two shutout innings with just one hit allowed, no runs, four strikeouts and one walk. He set a personal record on the fastball, topping at 91 mph on his best bullet - also showing a big-breaking curveball to pair off it in the low-70s as well as a low-80 slider and changeup at 81-82 mph.

Cunningham capped off a strong week with two shutout innings on the mound, allowing just one hit with no runs or walks, striking out two. The big right-hander showed a fastball up to 90 mph and attacked the zone, also going to a curveball in the mid-70s.

TOP PERFORMANCES:

Traxton Roberts: 2IP, H, 0R, BB, 4K

Brady Cunningham: 2IP, H, 0R, 0BB, 2K

Carson Trivellini: 2-for-2

Andrew Talbert: 1-for-3, 3B, RBI, R

Tyler Gluting: 1-for-3, RBI, R

Josh Morgan: 1-for-1, 2B, 2R, BB

Tristan Steger: 1-for-2, R

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