Madden Cotts went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored and pitched the final three innings as Libertyville rallied to beat Maine South 7-6 in eight and win its second straight Class 4A state championship at Slammers Stadium in Joliet on Saturday night.
The son of former Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs pitcher Neal Cotts, junior right-hander Madden Cotts was the third pitcher for the Wildcats (31-10-1), who fell behind 3-0 and 5-2 but scored three runs in the sixth to force extra innings and two runs in the eighth to take the lead for the first time.
Libertyville senior left fielder Carson Holmes, who had struck out three times, came to bat in the top of the eighth with runners on the corners and two outs. After senior right fielder Jack Cenar scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball, Holmes drove in Cotts with a line-drive single for a critical insurance run.
Cotts, a Bradley recruit who started at second base as usual and had pitched just 13 innings this season, got two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth and then ran into trouble. But after he hit Maine South junior shortstop Alex Vale to force in a run, Cotts clinched the victory with a strikeout.
Cotts allowed one run on three hits and two walks, and he struck out three.
Junior designated hitter Braden Cremins had two hits and two RBIs for Maine South (26-16), which lost to Libertyville in a supersectional last year. Senior catcher Luka Stojakovic, a Creighton recruit, and junior left fielder Gavin Krischke also had two hits.
Edwardsville had been the most recent 4A team to win back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023. Ottawa Marquette then won back-to-back state titles in 1A in 2024 and 2025.
This story will be updated. Freelance reporter Steve Reaven contributed.
