Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Keith McSweeney knows he isn’t the only coach in the state that puts an emphasis on a strong finish to the season.

Every team wants to be playing its best when the postseason rolls around.

Few teams have been able to match the late season success that Solon has had under McSweeney the past several seasons.

Solon (27-13) enters Wednesday’s Class 3A substate 4 final against No. 5 Marion smack dab in the middle of another late-season surge.

The Spartans have won nine straight since dropping both games of a doubleheader to Marion 4-0 back on June 30 in Solon.

“I don’t think we have a magic formula but what I will say is that we talk about this time of the year all season,” McSweeney said. “Our goal is never to win a conference championship, our goal isn’t to have a great record in the first three weeks. Our goal is prepare every game, every practice for districts.”

Solon gets its shot at redemption against Marion (30-10) on Wednesday in the second game of a substate final double dip in Solon.

No. 9 Regina (26-7) meets No. 3 Wilton (26-6) in another conference rematch in the 2A substate 5 final at 5 p.m. with round three between WAMAC rivals Solon and Marion to follow.

“They are a great team, we saw that the first time against Marion,” Solon junior Luke Ira said. “If we play solid defense and we get runs early I think we will be in good shape because I know that we will get runs in the fifth, sixth or seventh.”

Solon used that late magic to reach the state tournament last season, scoring six unanswered runs in a substate final win over Fairfield.

The state tournament berth last season capped a postseason push that saw Solon rebound from dropping five of its final seven games of the regular season with back-to-back wins over ranked teams in the district and substate finals.

“The other thing is this group, they have some experience in this position,” McSweeney said. “We came into the postseason last season and we were under .500 and they tagged two division 1 pitchers and they are pulling on that experience a little bit.”

Solon scored six runs in the final three innings to rally past Central DeWitt 6-4 in the district final on Monday.

That win improved the Spartans to 6-1 in postseason contests the past two years.

“We just have such good chemistry that once we get deep into the season it all just comes together and we play really good baseball,” Ira said.

The same core that helped Solon reach state last season is hoping to help the Spartans return to Principal Park for the third time in four seasons.

Ira (.522 BA, 6 HR) leads a group that includes returning starters Tyler Linderbaum (.359 BA, 28 RBI), Kendrick Harris (.331 BA, 32 runs) and Nick Hofsommer (.361 BA, 28 RBI).

“It’s just a great group,” McSweeney said. “There is a lot of energy and brotherhood in this class of kids and it’s pretty neat to watch.”