By Mark Gregory
Editorial Director
@Hear_The_Beard
mark@buglemewspapers.com
The finest season in Plainfield Central baseball history came to an end with an 8-1 loss to St. Charles North in the IHSA Class 4A super-sectional at Ozinga Field in Crestwood Monday night.
“We had some guys on early and they couldn’t cross the plate and against a good team like that, all of a sudden the bust it open with a five spot in the third,” Rosner said. “We hit some balls at some people that didn’t find holes and today wasn’t our day.”
Plainfield Central fell in the super-sectional, but still posted the best season in school history. (Photo by Mark Gregory)
The Wildcats completed a 29-10 campaign, winning the program’s first-ever sectional championship and third regional in history — all since 2016 under coach John Rosner.
“I am so proud of our guys and what they have accomplished in the last two weeks, but also in the last two years,” Rosner said. “This senior group had 53 wins in the last two years and that is pretty special. They will be remembered in our building for a long, long time.”
The graduating class of 2019 includes: Robert Boekeloo, Christopher Conrad, Justin Divelbiss, Brendan Dorsey, Nick Kregas, Liam McCafferty, Anthony Noble, Andrew Pirc, Zachary Rana, Benjamin Wielgos, Charlie Bischoff, Daniel Guiliano, Jac Lindish, Brant Plowman and Trevor Wagnon.
“The legacy that they have left here with us as coaches and in the building with their teachers, everyone loves this group — they will be missed,” Rosner said. “They will be missed on the field, there are so many great players and they have been since they were freshmen until now. I wish them all the best with their next endeavor, whatever that will be.”
The Wildcats opened the IHSA tournament with an 8-7 win over Southwest Prairie Conference foe Oswego, which they followed up with a 10-7 win over Naperville Central to win their own regional title.
In the Oswego Sectional, Plainfield Central defeated SPC champion and cross-town rival, Plainfield South, 6-3 to set up a sectional title clash with Neuqua Valley.
In the battle of the two Wildcats, it was Plainfield Central who came out on top, 11-4.
Rosner said that although the loss in the super-sectional hurts, it will not diminish what the team did this season — especially in the playoffs.
“I don’t think it will be lost on them,” Rosner said. “Neuqua is the real deal, as is Plainfield South. Oswego in our first round game is a good program and Naperville Central was as hot as anyone. We caught lightning in a bottle the last couple weeks and sometimes in baseball that’s what you need.”
With the program’s first experience in a super-sectional, Rosner said the experience at that level can only help the program as it continues to build.
“If we are lucky enough to get back here again, maybe they will carry themselves different and maybe we will, too, as coaches,” he said. “I think experience is valuable and we had a lot of it, but not in (the super-sectional).”
• After Plainfield South’s Ryan Pawlak, hammered a three-run homer, in the bottom of the second inning, in Plainfield Central’s Class 4A Oswego Sectional Semifinal, Rana shut the Cougars out the rest of the way and struck out 7 of the last 10 Cougar hitters he would face and the Wildcats (28-9) rallied past the Cougars 6-3.
Plainfield North (18-13) fell to Neuqua Valley 3-0 in the Class 4A Oswego Sectional Semifinal. Junior Eben Heine had the two Tiger hits in the game.