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In the insane 2021 IHSA boys varsity baseball season, the Plainfield East Bengals (16-15) finished the regular season with a 12-15 record, which resulted in a lowly No.13 seed in the Sectional 6 complex. A No.13 seed with a 12-15 record advancing to the IHSA Class 4A Crestwood Supersectional would be considered a Cinderella story on the East Side of Plainfield. Not so fast. The Bengals showed they were more like a rising young debutant than the lowly rags-to-riches Cinderella. East opened the tournament by dispatching the...
In the movie and book 'The Natural' it was a bat crafted out a tree struck by lightning that was dubbed Wonderboy that seemingly gave Roy Hobbs his ability to literally knock the cover off the baseball. Nothing was struck by lightning Friday night in the Class 4A Minooka Sectional championship game, but it was after a lightning delay that the Indians' bats came to life - dub them 'Wondergirls.' The Indians (15-13) came out of the delay like a team possessed, scoring 5 runs in...
On Wednesday in the IHSA Class 4A Sectional 6 semifinal at Minooka, Joliet West's 6-foot-7 super-sophomore southpaw Conner Hogan improved to 8-0 on the mound, pitching his Tigers to a 4-1 victory over the host Indians. The Tigers scored all four of the runs Hogan would need in the top of the fourth inning. Hogan scattered eight hits in his complete-game performance, allowing one unearned run, striking out seven and walking one. Hogan used his quality baseball IQ to come up with the play of the game in the Minooka bottom of...
On Tuesday in their 2021 IHSA Class 4A Plainfield North Regional championship game, the host Tigers trailed their Southwest Prairie Conference West rivals from Yorkville 11-5. The regional championship game moved to the Tigers' bottom of the seventh. Yorkville took two of the three SPC West games in the regular season and on Tuesday unleashed an 11-run, 13-hit attack on the Tiger pitching staff for the 11-5 lead. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out when junior Brandon Bak hammered a shot that appeared to be heading over...
In their IHSA 2021 Class 4A Plainfield South Regional Championship game, the host Cougars fell behind 6-0 after 1 1/2 innings of play. Cougar senior right-handed starting pitcher Tylor Phommachanhom was knocked out after giving up six runs, three earned, and seven hits in just two innings of work. Enter Cougars junior right-hander Matt Kelliher. Kelliher (4-2), from his first pitch of the game, through his game-ending pitch to close out Romeoville in the top of the seventh was a man possessed. Kelliher fired five hitless inni...
Great pitching. Solid defense. Clutch hitting. The three basic principles of Minooka Indians baseball under the tutelage of their manager Jeff Petrovic. Minooka (19-10) senior starting right-hander Jake Cook improved to 4-1 on the mound, allowing just two hits in his 5 1/3 scoreless innings of work against Moline (20-16) on Monday. Fellow senior right-hander Josh Davis fired 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to combine with Cook for a 5-0, three-hit shutout of Moline to become 2021 Class 4A Minooka Regional champions. The...
West Side of Joliet. IHSA Class 4A Regional D semifinal on Friday afternoon. Joliet West 9, Bradley-Bourbonnais 8 One out. Top 7. Boilermaker runner on first base. Enter Joliet West senior reliever Camden Karczewski. Karczewski, who is the son of Tigers' head coach John Karczewski, appeared in just his third game of the season on the mound. 3 2/3 innings were all that Karczewski had logged in the 2021 season. On this day, Karczewski threw one pitch to nail down the save for Tiger sophomore starting pitcher Conner Hogan...
Two-out magic — A phenomenon that has swept the Enterprise/Bugle high school baseball coverage area this spring. From as far north as Park Ridge and as far south as Minooka, area baseball teams have been scoring all or most of their runs after two outs in an inning. Another example of two out magic occurred in downtown Joliet on Wednesday. In their opening game of the 2021 IHSA State Baseball Tournament, the Steelmen of Joliet Central (3-24) defeated Pekin 8-0. The game was a Class 4A, Regional C play-in game. The Steelmen s...
On a cool Memorial Day morning in Downers Grove, the West Suburban Conference Silver Division champions from Hinsdale Central squared off with the WSC Gold champions from Downers Grove South. No WSC championship game implications were involved in the game. Hinsdale Central (19-3) exploded for six runs in the top of the third inning for a 6-0 lead and held off the host Mustangs (23-3) for a 7-6 WSC crossover win. After the Red Devils scored six in the top of the third inning, the Mustangs pulled within 6-2 on a RBI double...
In their final Southwest Prairie Conference crossover on Saturday, the SPC West's Plainfield North Tigers and the SPC East's Plainfield South Cougars met in another edition of Plainfield's Civil War. Trailing 1-0 as the game entered the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers (16-9) scored seven runs, six after two outs, and roll to a 7-1 victory. Plainfield North starting and winning pitcher Ethan Cook (3-1) allowed an unearned run and three hits in his game-winning, 5 2/3 innings of work on the mound. Junior Alec Mickenbecker clos...
Charity was on full display in Wednesday's Central Suburban League South battle between the CSL South co-leaders from Maine South and their arch rivals from New Trier. On Tuesday at historic Duke Childs Field in Winnetka, Maine South (19-11, 11-4) scored five times in the top of the first and went on to crush the rival Trevians 11-1 in six innings. On Wednesday in Park Ridge, in the top of the first inning, New Trier (18-11, 9-6) scored nine runs on just four hits to open a seemingly insurmountable 9-0 lead after 1/2 inning....
After Oswego's 14-1 in five-inning, Southwest Prairie Conference West victory over Minooka on Monday, the Panthers (17-6, 10-4) were one victory away from an SPC West series win and an outright SPC West title. On Tuesday at Oswego's Jackie's Field of Dreams, the host Panthers defeated the Indians 1-0. With the win, the Panthers wrap up the best-of-three SPC West series and claim the 2021 outright SPC West championship. The two clubs will conclude their three game series in Minooka on Thursday. A Minooka (15-10, 9-5) win on...
A year ago, the Joliet West baseball team was ready to compete. The Tigers were coming off a loss in the regional championship game and had several key players back. That season, however, was lost to the pandemic protocol set forth by the State of Illinois and the Illinois High School Association. Entering the 2021 season, West knew it had a few talented players, but there were a lot of question marks — namely could a conference pitching rotation that saw 6-foot, 8-inch sophomore Conner Hogan as the elder of the staff be e...
Opportunity lost? A definite yes The SPC West-leading Minooka Indians had a one-game lead over the second place Panthers of Oswego heading into the first of three SPC West season-ending games with the Panthers on Monday. With a win the Indians would clinch at least a share of the SPC West title. Oswego (16-6, 9-4) scored 12-runs in the top of the fourth inning and went on to crush the Indians 14-1 in five innings to pull into a first-place tie with Minooka (15-9, 9-4) atop the SPC West standings. Opportunity lost. "We had a c...
EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC JOLIET CATHOLIC 8 NOTRE DAME 0 GAME ONE After freshman Jake Gimbel threw a three-hit shut-out at Coal City on Thursday, Hilltopper senior Drew Buss (2-2) would not be outdone by his underclassman teammate. Buss fired a three-hit shutout of his own at the hard-hitting Dons (4-13, 2-5) with 10 strikeouts and did not walk a batter. The Hilltoppers (7-8, 2-1) exploded for their eight runs in the third inning to put this one away. Junior Lorenzo Rios (2-for-3,RBI) continued his hot-hitting with an RBI...
On a cool, crisp May Friday afternoon, it was Opening Day in the Southwest Suburban Blue at historic, 100-year-old Ed Flink Field. Opposing the Lockport Porters were the Vikings of Homewood-Flossmoor. On the mound for the Vikings, was their ace, right-hander pitcher, senior Chad Readey. Readey entered the game with a 3-0 record and a miniscule 0.93 ERA. After Lockport starting and winning pitcher Lucas Pajeau retired the Vikings (13-4, 0-1) in the top of the first, the return of the Porters murders row entered Ed Flink Field...
What a series. Perennial Southwest Prairie Conference powers, the Minooka Indians (8-5, 5-1) and the Plainfield North Tigers (8-3,3-3) put on a show in their crucial SPC West three-game series this week. On Monday, the SPC West-leading Indians prevailed 2-1 in Minooka. On Tuesday in Plainfield, the Tigers won a thrilling 4-3 victory to even up the series. On Thursday, back in Minooka, in the Indians' 4-2 victory, all four Minooka runs were driven home after two outs. Two out Minooka Magic. Indian senior catcher Hunter Ryan...
In another edition of one of Illinois' best high school sports rivalries, the Providence Celtics defeated the Joliet Catholic Academy Hilltoppers 6-4 at Gillespie Field on Wednesday afternoon. With the Hilltoppers leading 3-2, the Celtics (9-6) scored a run in the top of the fifth to tie the contest at 3-3. In the top of the sixth, the Celtics scored three times and roll to the 6-4 victory. Behind their starting left-handed sophomore pitcher T.J. Schlageter (4 IP, 2R.4H.2ER,1K, 1BB), the Hilltoppers (5-8) led 3-2 after four...
Whenever Plainfield South and Plainfield Central meet on a baseball diamond, the game usually goes down to the last pitch. Tuesday's, Southwest Prairie East battle between the host Cougars and the visiting Wildcats was no different. With the area No.1-ranked Cougars clinging to a 6-5 lead with two outs in the top of the seventh, Wildcats senior Jack Irwin stood on third base. On the the mound for the Cougars was senior right-hander Tylor "Puma" Phommachanhom. Phommachanhom had relieved starting pitcher, senior Max Peters (4...
SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST PLAINFIELD SOUTH 10 AT PLAINFIELD CENTRAL 5 The SPC East co-leading Cougars (7-0, 4-0) were trailing 3-2 when they exploded for six runs in the top of the third inning and roll to their seventh consecutive victory. Junior Zander Tubbs (1-for-4, HR, 3RBI) launched a three-run bomb over the left field fence for a 5-3 Cougs' lead. Freshman Blake Phommachanhom's (2-for-4, 2RBI) two-run single extended the South lead to 7-3. South scored on a Wildcat miscue to make it 8-3 after two and a half innings. The...
Great pitching. Solid defense. Clutch hitting. For 17 years, Minooka High School varsity baseball coach Jeff Petrovic has been teaching these fundamental elements of baseball to his Indians. On Monday, in a crucial Southwest Prairie Conference West Division showdown, Petrovic's SPC West-leading Indians (7-4, 4-0) defeated the No. 2 ranked Tigers of Plainfield North, 2-1. Great pitching. Indians senior right-handed pitcher Kyle Walter (2-1) allowed one run, scattered seven hits and struck out eight Tigers in his game-winning...
Downers Grove South senior Matt Scolan is seeing the baseball very well - thank you. With his Mustangs leading 12-3 over arch rival Hinsdale South, in the bottom of the sixth, Scolan stepped up to the plate. On first base was Mustang senior Richie Pecenka, who's two-RBI single made it 12-3 Mustangs. Scolan, who had hit for the cycle in Thursday's Mustangs 10-0 win at Hinsdale South, had a double and a triple in Friday's game. Add a walk-off RBI double to his batting log, scoring Pecenka and giving the Mustangs the 13-3...
Plainfield East senior catcher Mike Bailey loves to swing the bat against his Bengals' rivals from Plainfield Central. In Tuesday's 13-2 Bengals Southwest Prairie Conference East, the middle game of three game series victory, Bailey drove home seven runs. Plainfield Central won 13-3 on Monday in the series opener. In the rubber game Thursday on Plainfield's East Side, Bailey had a single in three at bats against Central ace, junior Carter Prochaska. In the East bottom of the sixth, with Plainfield Central up 3-1, Prochaska...
PASSING atttempts completions yards touchdowns interceptions Brett Winiecki Plainfield East 108- 73-1,402-16-1 Vince Meschi Bolingbrook 189-104-1,287- 7-8 Ryan Dawson Downers Grove S 96- 65- 956- 9-2 Josh Davis Minooka 126- 74- 851- 9-1 Rowan Keefe Maine South 98- 62- 836- 4-1 Chris Leto Plainfield Central 132- 60- 736- 7-5 Aidan Voss Joliet Catholic 50- 29- 682 8-2 Riley Pfeiffer Lockport 60- 31 484 4-5 Skyar Crudup Joliet West 81 38 442 6-5 Carl Bew Joliet Central 100- 43- 361- 3-8 Adam Smith Plainfield North 82 38 338 3-4...
SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST PLAINFIELD SOUTH 14 JOLIET CENTRAL 0 Plainfield South (4-0, 2-0) senior Max Peters fired a one-hit shutout at the Steelemen (1-7, 0-2) with 11 strikeouts. Brennan Phillips had a pair of singles, two doubles and drove home seven Cougar runs. Tylor Phommachanhom and Jeremy McGuigan homered for the Cougars. JOLIET WEST 15 ROMEOVILLE 10 The Tigers (4-5, 2-0) kept pace atop the SPC East with Plainfield South (4-0, 2-0) with the slugfest win over the 'Ville (3-6, 0-2). Josh Wokurka singled, homered and drove...