2024 Baseball State Tournament: Class AA Championship

Rockford junior pitcher Will Haas was nearly perfect on Friday, June 21 at Target Field.

He only let the count go full three times, with the second time resulting in a swinging strikeout to end the top of the fifth inning. He emphatically bounced off the mound in celebration, pumping his fists along the way as he remained perfect in the scorebook.

Haas was an infield single away from a perfect game, but still tossed a one-hit shutout in leading No. 2 Rockford to a 6-0 victory over No. 4 Foley in the Class AA championship game. It is the first state championship for Rockford (26-5).

Haas, a left-hander, took a perfect game into the sixth inning, striking out two batters before allowing the hit. Haas fielded the ball and tried to decide between throwing it to his teammate at first base or taking it to the bag himself. He opted for the latter but didn’t get there in time. 

“But honestly, that helped me more than anything, because it took the weight of a perfect game in the state championship off my shoulders and just let me refocus and do what I needed to do,” Haas said. 

The infield hit by Foley senior Alex Jennissen was the only blemish in his final pitching line, which included 13 strikeouts and no walks on 89 pitches. 

Haas had already tossed a perfect game this season in a five-inning, 10-0 win over Litchfield on April 29. He also struck out 13 that day.

“That would’ve been a cool one to do in the state championship,” said junior catcher Harrison Edwards. “He’s just been insane all year.” 

The Rockets’ offense came through, too, taking a 2-0 lead in the third inning with a double-single-triple combination from the top of the order. The next inning, Rockford sent nine batters to the plate and scored four unearned runs on four hits, including a two-run single from Edwards and a two-run triple from senior Aiden Smith; his second triple in as many at-bats.

Edwards and Smith drove in Rockford’s runs, each recording three RBIs. Edwards was 3 for 3 at the plate and scored a pair of runs. Smith was 2 for 4. 

Haas looked as good on the mound Friday as he has all year, said Rockford coach Cody Hallahan. 

“We knew that if he got the run support like we gave him that he would relax and he would just be Will and be himself,” Hallahan said. “He showed that right from the get-go. And once we got that lead about three, four runs, we knew it was ours.” 

The game marked the ninth shutout victory for Rockford this season. 

Foley (23-5), which finished as the runner-up in its first championship game appearance, saw its 11-game winning streak end, and also marked the only time it was shut out this season.