Baseball: Plainfield Central enjoying another special season

PLAINFIELD – After capturing their first regional championship last season, expectations were high for this year’s Plainfield Central baseball team and coach John Rosner’s squad has not disappointed.

A campaign that began with a title in WJOL’s Don Ladas Tournament has unfolded nicely as the Wildcats improved to 21-7 overall and 10-5 in the Southwest Prairie Conference after they claimed a 5-4 home win over Romeoville on Friday in their teacher appreciation game.

Central has clinched its sixth straight campaign with a record of .500-or-better and has compiled its fourth consecutive season of 20 or more wins.

The two streaks are the longest for the program since Don Martin’s squads had 11 straight .500-or-better campaigns from 1978-88 and Arnie Blaylock’s teams recorded 20 or more wins for five consecutive seasons from 1971-75.

With four games left in the regular season, the Wildcats have a good chance of finishing with their best winning percentage since 1982 and also could collect their most victories since a 26-8 effort in 1977 and have a shot at the school-record of 28 wins from 1975.

“If we play defense well and don’t walk guys, then we have a shot to be competitive,” Rosner said. “We’ve been in so many close games that have come down to one run. So I think we’re used to that feeling and hopefully the more we’re in that, the more relaxed we’ll be.

“Our infield is made up of seniors who all played for us last year and we have four senior pitchers who are not going to wow anyone with their velocity, but they throw strikes and challenge guys. If we’re doing that, that’s one of the reasons why we’re 21-7 right now.”

Romeoville went up, 1-0, in the first inning when Tyler Horvath (2 for 4) scored on an error, but that was the only run that it would collect against Wildcats starter Nathan Yusko, who yielded seven hits in 42/3 innings to collect the victory. The Wildcats tied it in the third when Yusko was hit by a pitch and courtesy runner Joey Michaud scored on a passed ball.

“We all play together and if we get down, we stay in the game and know that we can come back,” Plainfield Central player Cameron Cercone said. “We practice the little things all of the time and that’s mainly what we focus on because that’s what it comes down to in winning ball games. We have a lot of returning players from last year and that helps a lot. It was a great feeling to win regionals and now that we have that taste in our mouths, we want it again and a lot more.”

Central got three runs in the fourth when David Ascencio (2 for 3) and Kyle Cockrell led off with singles and scored after a sacrifice bunt by Brandon Callender was thrown away. Callender came in on Rocky Pascente’s grounder to make it 4-1. The Wildcats added a run in the fifth after Nick Heffernan led off with an infield hit and scored on a single by Callender.

“We play as a team and even though we might not be the most talented team, we do the little things, and that’s how we win ball games,” Callender said. “We’ve just kind of carried things over from last year with our confidence and we’re hoping to have another big year in the playoffs. I like how we’re pretty much all best friends. We play that way and do everything for each other, and I think that helps a lot when we’re playing.”

But the Spartans, who also got a 3-for-4 effort from Ethan Green, made things interesting by scoring three times in the sixth and getting the potential tying run to third base.

Josh Golibrzuch was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and then Justin Welch drew a walk. After Zach Swearingen reached on a fielder’s choice, Zakk Suits (2 for 3) and Fernando Perez singled, with the latter driving in a run and two others scoring on an error. Michaud got a strikeout to end the threat and then retired the side in order in the seventh.

“We gave them some runs and didn’t execute with our bunts, which has been good all year,” Spartans coach Mike Skroch said. “But I’m happy with how they battled. From where we are to where they are, to play them this tough and come back at the end and make it a much tighter game, I’m very proud of them. We struggled last night and this was a great response.”