By Sean Duncan

PEORIA - The Coonrod brothers did what was expected: lead Carrollton to the Class 1A state championship on Saturday. While the school?s first state crown was a collective effort, it was the highly touted brothers who pitched the Hawks to 31-1-1 record.

On Friday, senior right-hander Sammy Coonrod pitched a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts to get the Hawks into the championship game. Once in the title game, junior right-hander Joey Coonrod took care of the rest, as he tossed a five-hitter to stifle Eastland 8-1 at O?Brien Field on Saturday.

Pitching in 96-degree heat, Joey struck out 11, allowed one run and walked none. Of his 111 pitches, 80 were for strikes. His fastball registered in the 83-85 range, while his 66-69 mph curveball continuously confounded Eastland.

?It?s amazing,? said Joey, who ran his record to 12-0. ?I can?t even describe it. Our team did an amazing job hitting the ball early.?

Indeed. Carrollton scored two runs in the top of the first inning, enough, as it turned out, for Coonrod, who yielded his only run in the bottom half of the first. Carrollton added two more runs in the third and extended its lead to 6-1 in the fourth with two more.

Left-handed hitting first baseman Brenton Walls continued his hot hitting for the Hawks, as he went 3-for-4 with three RBI. On Friday, Walls went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Catcher Kurtis Weber added two hits and three runs scored for the Hawks, who tallied nine hits against two Eastland pitchers.

Eastland, which committed four errors, was led Brad Dunlap and Mack Byers with two hits apiece.

In the end, it was too much Coonrod for Carrollton opponents. The brothers combined for a perfect 23-0 record with 235 strikeouts.

In the Class 1A third-place game, Goreville scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Tremont 10-9. Third baseman Lee Sopczak lined the game-winning hit for his second RBI of the game. Centerfielder Cody Smith paced Goreville (24-15) with four hits and four RBI. Tremont (21-10) committed five costly errors that led to its demise.