For as long as anyone can remember, when Libertyville’s Carson Holmes has held a baseball bat, good things have happened.
That hasn’t changed in Holmes’ first full varsity season. He has settled into the cleanup spot in the lineup and has launched a home run in each of the Wildcats’ two playoff wins.
“I like fielding,” Holmes said. “But more importantly, I just like to hit. That’s why I play baseball.”
Holmes, a junior who has been a dependable outfielder but was the designated hitter on Saturday, blasted a two-run homer as second-seeded Libertyville beat seventh-seeded Highland Park 5-2 in the Class 4A Hoffman Estates Regional championship game.
Holmes’ fifth home run of the season came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning and gave the North Suburban Conference champion Wildcats (32-4), who will play sixth-seeded Prospect in the Stevenson Sectional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a 5-0 lead over the Giants (24-11-1). It scored senior first baseman Joshua Holst, an Air Force recruit who had singled right before Holmes and hit a solo shot two innings earlier.
Holmes’ long ball provided two important insurance runs for junior pitcher Chase Lockwood, who went the distance. Highland Park scored two unearned runs in the top of the seventh.
“The previous at-bat, I swung and whiffed at a curveball, so I just sat curveball the next time up,” Holmes said. “He threw me one, and I took it deep. The one before was a really bad swing, so I made the adjustment.”
Holmes takes a measured approach at the plate.
“The thing with Carson is that he takes a nice, smooth swing,” Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said. “He’s never trying to jack the ball. He just gets the barrel to the ball really well, and obviously you see the results.
“He’s always been confident in himself as a hitter, and he’s built on it this year.”
Holmes, who went 2-for-2 and was hit by a pitch on Saturday, is hitting .426 with a .543 on-base percentage, a 1.330 OPS and 21 RBIs. He recently was named to the all-conference team.
“I’ve been seeing him swing the bat since we were 8, and he’s always been hitting bombs,” Libertyville junior second baseman Trevor Wallace said. “He has a great swing. The whole year, he’s been pretty hot. It’s been fun to see.”
Holmes’ older brother Dylan, a 2022 Libertyville graduate, plays for NJCAA Division III World Series qualifier Oakton Community College. The two spend ample time analyzing Holmes’ swing, making adjustments when things go awry and having a devoted plan day in and day out.
“He’s been a big influence on how I play this game, especially hitting the ball,” Holmes said. “I’ll send him videos, and he’ll help me with my swing to this day. So he deserves credit for that.”
Holmes pointed to one change in particular this season.
“We made some adjustments in my swing, and ever since, I’ve been hitting the ball really well,” Holmes said. “I was upper-cutting it too much, and I need to stay more downhill to the ball, having a shorter path — be short to it, not long.”
Holmes, who got a taste of varsity baseball as a late-season call-up in 2024, has longed for this opportunity, having watched Libertyville teams of the past.
“It’s been a lot different but a lot of fun actually being a big part of it now,” he said. “It’s kind of my job to hit, and I pride myself on doing that, and this is a really good team to be a part of. We all connect, and this is our year to do some damage.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
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