May 8, 2026 | WALLS 102 - Part 2

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Johnathon Stunkel throws a gem, Putnam County uses small ball in win over Mendota

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Johnathon Stunkel throws a gem, Putnam County uses small ball in win over Mendota

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Johnathon Stunkel throws a gem, Putnam County uses small ball in win over Mendota

As the innings kept passing without the Mendota baseball team getting a runner on base, Putnam County senior Johnathon Stunkel admitted he was feeling the pressure “a little bit.”The Panther ace had a perfect game through six innings before an error and a hit to start the seventh ended it.“I think somebody in the dugout mentioned it and that might have been what happened at the end, but that’s alright,” Stunkel joked.Stunkel quickly shook off the loss of his perfect game and no-hitter on back-to-back batters to induce three straight groundouts to cap off a one-hit shutout in a 3-0 nonconference victory over Mendota on senior night Friday in Granville.“I just had to get back into it and throw,” Stunkel said about keeping Mendota off the board following the base runners.Stunkel made it tough for the Trojans all game as he struck out 10 batters and did not walk any.“The curveball definitely helped me a lot today,” Stunkel said. “My curveball is probably my best pitch. I was able to pump the zone with it. Definitely starting ahead in counts helped, for sure.”Stunkel only allowed two balls to be hit out of the infield. Mendota leadoff hitter Quinn Eddy hit a pop up to shallow left field that shortstop Maddox Poole made a diving catch on in the fourth and Esten Otero hit a hard ground ball through the left side for Mendota’s only hit.“We knew we were going to be in the game with Johnathon throwing,” PC coach Chris Newsome said. “He always gives us a shot. Johnathon did a heck of a job. He set the tone.“He didn’t give any free passes and that’s No. 1 is making them earn it. We’ve been guilty of letting guys on for free. It’s really been a key point we’re trying to hammer home. And then play clean behind him, and for the most part we did that.”While Stunkel was dominant, Otero was strong for the Trojans as well.Otero started with three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit over that stretch while striking out four, including the side in the third.Otero threw five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.“That was quite a pitchers’ duel,” Mendota coach Jim Eustice said. “We didn’t have a base runner until the seventh inning. What a way for (Stunkel) to have a senior night here. I’m glad he didn’t get a perfect game, but he really threw a heck of a game and they played great defense behind him.“I thought Esten pitched fantastic. Our defense was very good. We had a couple we just couldn’t get to in the outfield.”After not doing much offensively the first time through the order, the Panthers turned to small ball in the fourth to get on the board.Stunkel led off with a double to left-center field and went to third on an errant throw into the infield.Poole put down a squeeze bunt to score Stunkel for the game’s first run.To start the fifth, Carter Hochstatter worked a full count, fouling off four pitches in the process, before hitting a double into right field.Hochstatter moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Jacob Furar laid down a squeeze bunt. The Panthers added a run on an RBI triple by Traxton Mattingly.“Once we saw we weren’t necessarily knocking the ball around like crazy, we started going to small ball and it worked for us,” Newsome said. “It’s something we practice a lot. We know we’re not an all-star offensive team one through nine. We have some guys who can swing it and some guys are hotter than others. “During the season, you just kind of ride that roller coaster, but at any point, we could bunt one through nine. We’ll play small ball if we have to. You just have to adjust to your personnel and who’s hot and who’s not.”The Panthers improved to 15-9.“We have plenty of room to improve and that’s what we’re going to do,” Newsome said. “We’re going to keep trying to get better. You always want more as a player and as a coach. That’s what drives a lot of these guys is just showing up every single day trying to improve. Hopefully the third week of May things are rocking and rolling and you can win a few in a row.”The Trojans fell to 10-10. In Eustice’s first season as head coach, Mendota is ahead of last year as the Trojans finished 9-18-1 in 2025.“We’ve improved a ton,” Eustice said. “We got win No. 10 (Thursday), which was important to us. We’ve won four conference games (after one last season). We have two weeks left now to build up to the postseason. We have a pretty good pitching core, we played pretty good defense and our hitting has been pretty good overall this year. I think we can compete with just about anybody and we proved that tonight.”

Photos: Putnam County baseball shuts out Mendota 3-0

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Photos: Putnam County baseball shuts out Mendota 3-0

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Photos: Putnam County baseball shuts out Mendota 3-0

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Photos: Putnam County baseball shuts out Mendota 3-0

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Photos: Putnam County baseball shuts out Mendota 3-0

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QB Marion Persich to transfer to Morris from La Salle-Peru

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QB Marion Persich to transfer to Morris from La Salle-Peru

Two-time All-Interstate 8 Conference quarterback Marion Persich, a highly-touted recruit in the Class of 2028, will still be giving conference teams fits this fall, but he’ll do so wearing a different uniform.Persich is transferring from La Salle-Peru to Morris for the 2026 season.The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has been on game day visits to Illinois, Northwestern and Michigan State. He’s going to camps this summer at North Dakota State and San Diego State. He also has camp invites from several other schools, including Missouri, Missouri State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Iowa.“I think it’s a good opportunity,” said Persich, whose transfer comes as his father’s fencing company expands into Morris.In two varsity seasons at La Salle-Peru, Persich completed 199-of-385 passes for 2,607 yards and 17 touchdowns while running for more than 1,100 yards and 19 TDs.Persich also is a two-time Friday Night Drive Team of the Week MVP, winning the award in each his freshman and sophomore seasons.The Cavaliers went 5-13 overall and 2-8 in the conference with four wins overall and both conference wins coming against Ottawa.“I really loved it at L-P,” Persich said. “It’s a great community. I love all the people. I love my team and I’m glad for all the stuff I learned over my two years at L-P with (assistant) coach (Jared) Mundt and coach JJ (Raffelson). It was a good experience.”Persich joins a Morris program that has made six consecutive playoff appearances, reaching the Class 4A semifinals last fall and the Class 5A semifinals in 2024. Morris has double-digit wins in four of the last five seasons.“I definitely think it will be a little easier, especially with them being a good program,” Persich said. “They already have good talent. I think me coming there, being able to really control the offense and being able to make them more of a passing and running team should definitely be a good advantage for them. Having the O-line they have should also be better for me having more time in the pocket and really being able to become a passing quarterback instead of just running.”Persich said he hopes to lead Morris to another deep playoff run.“When I first get there I need to most definitely build bonds with them and get everyone on the same page with me and just get everyone’s confidence up the first couple games.,” Persich said. “We should be able to go on a good run this year.”Persich will return to L-P’s Howard Fellows Stadium for the Interstate 8 Conference finale on Oct. 9. Persich also will play basketball for Morris after helping the Cavaliers to their third consecutive regional title last winter and earning NewsTribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year.“It’s definitely going to be an experience,” Persich said about returning to L-P to play football and basketball. “I know a lot of people are pretty upset about me moving, but I definitely think it will be a good experience. It should be a good game.”

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