Reese, a catcher, led Glenwood to a 32-4 record this spring. In the fall, he was one of seven recruits that signed National Letters of Intent to attend EIU and play for the Panthers. Fellow signee Luke Bushur (Teutopolis/Teutopolis) also helped his
high school team win the IHSA Class 2A state title this month.
Glenwood invoked the mercy rule in its wins against Joliet Catholic (17-5) and DeKalb (11-1) this weekend at Silver Cross Field in Joliet. Reese was 2-for-3 with a double, walk, two RBIs and two runs scored in the semifinal victory against Joliet Catholic. In the state championship game against DeKalb, he was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. His courtesy runner scored twice.
Reese also caught a masterful performance on the mound versus DeKalb. The Glenwood pitcher, who is only a junior, worked six innings of one-run ball, striking out nine while not issuing a walk.
“It's probably the best baseball we played all year,” Reese told the Springfield Journal-Register's Todd Engle after the championship game victory. “Everybody hit this weekend. We played great defense, the pitchers pitched really well. We played awesome. It seemed like everybody was hitting today. Once we got two outs, that's when we were scoring.”
The state title was Glenwood's first in baseball since 1996. Current Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth was a junior on that team.
