Entering the tournament as the top overall seed, the Heartland baseball team continued its excellent play in this week's NJCAA DII Region 24 Tournament at The Corn Crib, ultimately finishing 3-0 to capture the Region championship. The Hawks will now advance to the NJCAA DII World Series in Enid, Okla., which runs from May 27-June 3. Four Hawks were named to the All-Region 24 team based on coaches votes, with Sam Antonacci, Ben Hartl, Jason Buhl and Corey Boyette each receiving the award. Antonacci was tabbed as the Region 24 Player of the Year, along with the Region 24 Tournament's Most Valuable Player. Heartland coach Chris Razo was named the 2023 Region 24 Coach of the Year.
 
Game 1
After receiving a first-round bye, the Hawks opened the seven-team Region 24 Tournament against the fifth-seeded Lewis & Clark Trailblazers on Thursday morning. Behind great pitching and a solid offensive output, the Hawks advanced to Friday's semifinals with a 10-2 victory over Lewis & Clark. Heartland took little time to jump-out in front against the Trailblazers, as Bobby Atkinson knocked in two runs with a run-scoring single in the first to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. The Trailblazers responded with an RBI double by Jonathon Foti in the top of the second, but from there it was all Heartland. A TJ Williams bunt scored Jacyk Uehling in the sixth to make it 3-1 in favor of Heartland. The Hawks added five more runs in the seventh behind RBI hits by Daniel Mosele and Hartl to extend the advantage to 8-1. After Lewis & Clark scored one more tally in the eighth, a base-knock by Gallien Coupet ended the contest in the bottom-half of the eighth frame. Meade Johnson picked-up the win for the Hawks, as the Maryland commit tossed 7.0 frames and allowed just 1 run on 6 hits. Johnson also struck-out 9 in the victory.
 
Game 2
Heartland returned for a semifinal matchup against second-seeded Parkland College on Friday. In a highly anticipated battle, the Hawks erased an early deficit en route to a 14-6 win over the Cobras to advance to Saturday's championship game. Parkland took the lead early in the first frame, as the Cobras scored two runs to make it 2-0. It was the third frame that provided Heartland with a boost, as the home team scored nine runs to suddenly take a 9-2 lead. Antonacci tied the game at 2-2 with a towering, two-run blast over the center field fence. Uehling followed that with an RBI hit before a mirage of miscues by the Cobras allowed six more Heartland runs to cross. In the following inning, Hartl lifted a two-run homer to left field to make it 11-2. Behind two long balls, the Cobras would rally to cut the deficit to 11-6 through the top of the seventh. An Atkinson three-run homer in the bottom-half of the seventh inning secured the win for the Hawks. Buhl received the win for the Hawks, throwing 6.0 innings and allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits. Buhl walked 3 and struck-out 6 in the win.
 
Game 3
It was the third-seeded Lincoln Land Loggers who stood in the way of a Region 24 Championship for the Hawks on Saturday. Heartland was able to score early against the Loggers en route to a 9-3 championship victory. Matt Santarelli drove-in the game's first runs with an RBI single in the first to make it 2-0. Mosele followed with a solo shot in the second, and just three batters later Hartl followed that with a solo homer of his own to give the Hawks a 4-0 advantage. A sacrifice fly by Uehling in the third allowed another Heartland run to cross, before run-scoring extra-base hits by Antonacci and Atkinson in the fourth extended the lead to 7-0. Lincoln Land would score once in the sixth, and twice more in the seventh to narrow the deficit to 7-3. Uehling added some insurance with an RBI double in the eighth as the Hawks enjoyed a 9-3 advantage. Jake Jakubowski closed things out for the Hawks in the ninth as Heartland advanced to the NJCAA DII World Series with the Region 24 championship win. Cy Cox was credited with the victory for the Hawks after throwing an efficient 7.0 frames. The southpaw allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, while striking out 7.
 
Heartland enters the NJCAA DII World Series with a 53-5 overall record. Pairings for the tournament will be released on Tuesday.