Limestone defeated East Peoria to advance to the regional championship of high school baseball in Illinois. The result is final and nothing can be done at this point but a controversial ejection looms large over what might’ve been a completely different outcome.
I find it hard to see the “malicious intent” involved with the bang-bang play.
East Peoria and Limestone are separated by less than 10 miles. Limestone is technically located in Bartonville, just a few minutes up the road from downtown Peoria. East Peoria is located on the east side of Peoria, obviously. Their high school baseball teams met in the regional semifinal on Wednesday night.
The Rockets ultimately proved victorious by a score of 4-2. However, the Raiders were robbed of a crucial baserunner during the bottom of the fifth inning. (High school games last only seven innings.)
East Peoria slugger Auggie Lohnes knocked a deep fly ball to the wall in left. He turned around first and tried to stretch a double while the Limestone outfielder threw back in to second base on a bounce. It appeared as though the runner beat the throw. The umpire called Lohnes as safe on the field.
However, that call was very soon overturned. Lohnes collided with the second baseman as he reached the base. The second baseman lost his hat. He was irate.
In what may be the turning point of tonight's East Peoria vs Limestone playoff game, the Raiders' Auggie Lohnes was ejected after review for his slide into 2nd base.
— PatrickMcCabeTV (@PatrickMcCabeTV) May 29, 2025
The Rockets end up beating the Raiders 4-2, and move on to the regional title on Saturday against Dunlap. pic.twitter.com/AsD6evuE4D
Upon further review, the high school baseball umpiring crew determined “malicious intent” on the slide. Lohnes was immediately removed from the contest.
Getting a lot of requests for this video–and I'm not posting to criticize the umpiring.
— Jim Mattson (@hoijim) May 29, 2025
East Peoria's Auggie Lohnes doubles in last night's loss to Limestone. He is ruled safe at 2nd base but then ejected from game for "malicious intent" on slide. Pinch runner replaced him pic.twitter.com/t0JocE7nxD
Although the Raiders were allowed to replace Lohnes with a pinch runner, the ejection proved to be a clear turning point in the game. They lost their best hitter (one of the best hitters in the state) and their juice. Momentum immediately swung in favor of the Rockets. All for what?!
I don’t know how the umpiring crew saw “malicious intent” when Lohnes did not lead with his spikes up or make intentional contact with an opponent. His slide was ugly, yes. It was not malicious!