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Plano Struggles Through Tough Year On Diamond
Reapers Never Quite Live Up To High Hopes And Expectations

By Bill Lidinsky

One step forward, two steps back. The common phrase seemed to characterize the 2006 season for the Plano High school varsity baseball team. Buoyed with the 20 win success of 2005, the Reapers leapt into the 06 campaign with high hopes of reaching an IHSA regional championship game on their home field and hopefully surpassing last year’s accomplishments.

But inconsistency and error proned baseball plagued Plano throughout the season and left them short of their goals. The Reapers completed 2006 with a 16-21 overall record and a 5-9 seventh place finish in the tough Interstate Eight Conference.

“I’m disappointed in our record for the year. I would have expected that mark to be reversed. The 16 wins is something that I’m not necessarily proud of, but some of the achievements that we did reach I am thankful for,” said Plano head baseball coach Jim Schmidt. “We did underachieve at times and we lost a bunch of games we shouldn’t have lost. But we also won some contests that were big for us and the kids battled to the end and that ultimately is all I can ask for.”

After going 0-3 out of the gate the Reapers reached the 500 mark only once in 2006. A double-header win at South Beloit on April 15 brought Plano to a record of 7-7. They would never hit the break even point again in 06.

“We kind of rebuilt for this team. I thought this was going to be the year we’d jump back into where we were as regional champs four years ago,” Schmidt said. “We didn’t quite get there but we did do some good things.”

Plano ended their season with a 10-0 six inning loss to Reed-Custer in the Class A regional semifinals after surviving an 8-7 come from behind victory over Earlville in the regional quarterfinals.

The starting pitching never really lived up to the optimism going into the season but two players shined on the mound in an unexpected way.
Junior hurler Ben Heller led the Reaper staff with a 6-2 record while junior Eric Nelson was next in line with a 4-4 overall mark. Senior Nick Preston concluded 06 with a 3-6 campaign that proved disappointing considering that he figured to be the staff ace coming into the year.

“We had depth in pitching while we didn’t have the dominant pitching. I know Preston didn’t have the best of years, but he went against everybody’s number one and our best opponents. If he would’ve pitched against some of the easier teams, Nick could have reversed that mark,” Schmidt said. “I think however that the brightest spot for us this year was the performance of my two junior pitchers. Eric was 4-0 to start the season and Ben was consistent all year wining six games. Hopefully Ben can get a little stronger in 2007 and he and Eric can lead the way for us moving into next year.”

Heller led the Plano staff with 58 strikeouts and only 14 walks during only 58 innings pitched.

“I learned a lot from Nick and the upperclassmen. I had a lot of backup from my team when I was on the mound and I expect to do a lot better as a senior next season,” Heller said.

Nelson struck out 31 but struggled with control at times walking 38 on the year. But still, the junior came up big time with wins against quality opponents.
“I knew we were lacking in pitching besides Preston and Heller. So I knew I had to step up on the mound and contribute,” Nelson said. “Starting off 4-0 was a highlight for me and I was disappointed that I finished 4-4. But I pitched against some great teams and unfortunately we didn’t finish where we really would have liked too.”

Offensively the Reapers shined at times. Led by three year varsity starter junior Brook Bott, Plano excelled with their bats.
Bott and senior Matt Priesman were voted as two of the top ten I-8 all conference performers within a 20 player field. Bott finished fifth in the voting submitted by the I-8 coaches while Priesman finished tenth.

Bott tied a Plano school record with 51 hits in a season while Priesman notched 50. He also set a Reaper single season mark with 49 RBI’s and a consecutive games hitting streak of 20 games eclipsing the 16 set by Gregory Gould in 2005 and the 46 RBI’s plated by Brian Gregory in 2001.
Bott also reached the 121 hit plateau for a career as a Reaper. He now stand ten hits shy of the overall career hit mark set by Lane Sibley in 2004 with 131. In addition, Bott notched a Plano career record in home runs with 18 and RBI’s with 109.

As a senior in 2007, Bott figures to rewrite the Plano record books as the most prolific hitter in Reaper high school history.

“Hitting wise I did very well and broke a few records,” Bott said. “That wasn’t what we were looking for however. We wanted to win a regional championship. Unfortunately we couldn’t do it. But Matt and I set the tone for us offensively in what proved to be a fun but disappointing season.”
with his 50 hits in 2006, Priesman easily set the Plano career stolen base record with 82. That shattered the Reaper mark of 68 set by Brian Hill from 1990-93. In two varsity seasons Priesman was thrown out only five times in 87 stolen base attempts. He also had one of the biggest hits of 06 for Plano with a grand slam versus Sandwich back on April 20 in a 17-7 victory.

“It was a good year individually for me but I wish we could’ve ended with a championship of some kind,” Priesman said. “That’s the way things go sometimes. It was fun while it lasted. Hopefully now I can reach my fullest potential in college playing at the
next level.”

Priesman will now go on to play at Illinois Valley Community College in Ogelesby, IL. along with Preston who both continue on as teammates on the collegiate level.

Priesman, Preston along with seniors Alex Jensen, Will Brown, Kevin Klingberg, Shawn Gwilt, and Brent Day move on to college leaving a big void for Schmidt and company next season.

“Losing those seniors hurts us. We definitely have some holes to fill in 2007, but we certainly have a great nucleus coming back and I believe we’ll be strong and competitive again when we take the field in 07,” Schmidt said.

Newark Baseball Rewrites History Books
Norsemen Capture Regional Championship And
25 Wins For First Time In 70 Years

By Bill Lidinsky

As the sun set on the Newark High School parking lot during a cool and crisp Monday evening, junior pitching sensation Kyle Janssen tried to wipe off the remnants of frosting from the celebratory cupcakes that were smashed in his face by fellow teammates and fans.

Not many of the Norsemen players and onlookers were spared the “cupcake crush” which came as a direct result of something that had never happened in the history of Newark sports, an IHSA Class A Baseball Regional Championship and a 25 win season.

For 69 years the Norsemen varsity hardballers have toiled in relative obscurity within the shadows of championship basketball and softball. Well toil no longer, because Newark baseball has finally arrived as a true power on the Class A diamond.

With their 5-1 victory over Putnam County High School on Monday afternoon, the Norsemen set a new standard for baseball excellence with their first IHSA Regional Championship in 70 years and their first 25 win season in seven decades.

The architect of the Newark baseball resurgence is head coach D.J. Cocks. In just his third season as Norsemen leader, Cocks has transformed Newark into a prime example of how a high school baseball team should be run. Blessed with prime time players such as Janssen, Cocks has taken the four win squad of 2003 and molded them into a true “team” that now knows how to win ballgames and experience the thrill of victory.

“It’s not about me, but I’ve now been fortunate enough to be a part of two special teams as a player and as a coach. In 1998 when I played for Plano we won our first regional and we broke the school record that we still have to this day,” Cocks said. “Now we’ve broken Newark’s school record with 25 wins and a regional championship and I’m so proud to be a part of history like that. It’s a tribute this year to all my players and their hard work and dedication. I try to stress to all of them that it’s not about “you” it’s about “team” and these guys have embraced that. We adopted that mission in 98 when I played at Plano and we’ve adopted that mission this year at Newark.”

With an impressive 23-5 mark, Cocks entered the post season playoffs knowing that he had to get through a very tough regional. The Norsemen were seeded fourth in the Seneca Sectional Complex but were the top seed at the Putnam County regional.

On Friday May 19 Newark took on 13 seed Peru St. Bede in the regional semifinals. Knowing that if he was to get a shot at the championship game Cocks gambled and pitched his ace Janssen against a very tough Bruin squad sacrificing him for a potential regional championship showdown come Monday.
The strategic move paid off as Janssen pitched a complete game allowing only two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts as the junior moved his record to a perfect 8-0 for 2006 with a 3-2 victory over a stubborn St. Bede squad.

“You’ve got to win game one otherwise you don’t have a tomorrow,” Cocks said. “I was confident that Kyle could get it done on the mound as he’s proven all year for us. We grabbed a small lead early and were able to hold on at the end.”

Entering Monday’s game against ninth seed and host Putnam County Cocks could have pitched Janssen on short rest but opted for junior Mitch Dunlap in order to set up Janssen as the starter in round one of sectional play if the Norsemen could grab a regional title.

Cocks strategy proved right once again as for one of the first times this season Janssen became almost invisible playing center field as he watched Dunlap step up on the mound in a big way.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the second Newark plated two runs in the bottom of the frame. Senior Adam Marcley led off the inning by striking out but reached first base on a dropped third strike. Junior Dale Johnson then walked and senior Nick Verda sacrificed Marcley and Johnson to second and third on a perfectly executed bunt play. Senior Andrew Monkemeyer then grounded out to short scoring Marcley to tie the score at 1-1. Junior Tyler Vickroy then reached on an error by the Panthers third basemen which plated Johnson and the Norsemen were up 2-1 after two innings of play.
“I’ve been struggling at the plate a lot lately and I got a break on a strikeout to reach first base. To come around and score after that was certainly a blessing and we were on our way from there,” Marcley said.

Dunlap held Putnam County scoreless the rest of the game courtesy of some great defense behind him. In the fifth inning the Panthers had runners on first and second with one out but second baseman Patrick Quantock and shortstop Brian McGrath pulled off a perfect 4-6-3 double play to help Dunlap out of the inning.

“The defense was there today. We haven’t had a lot of double plays this season, but the ones today were key in getting us out of jams. When you knock them down they change momentum and that proved to be a big difference today,” McGrath said.

In the sixth inning Putnam County got the first two runners on before McGrath and Quantock turned another textbook twin killing with runners on first and third.

“They had runners on the corner with nobody out we rolled another double play. Their guy didn’t go home from third for whatever reason. I could not believe he didn’t score on that to tie the game. We caught a huge break there and once again our defense stepped up big,” Cocks said.

With a runner still on third and two outs the Putnam County batter grounded what seemed to be a sure game tying single between second and first. But Quantock ranged to his left and made a diving stop. He quickly righted himself and threw the runner out at first in what was a championship defining play for Newark and ended the Panthers chances to tie the score.

“I went after it as hard as I could and dove for it. It took a really bad hop but I was able to grab it and throw the runner out at first base,” Quantock said. “If I don’t make that play they score the tying run and it would have changed the whole momentum of the game big time.”

Quantock’s defensive “web gem” served as a catalyst for the Newark offense in the bottom of the sixth. Still up 2-1 the Norsemen plated three huge runs.
Dunlap led off and was hit by a pitch. He then took second on an errant Panther pick off attempt. After Marcley struckout, junior Dale Johnson pushed Dunlap to third with a single. Verda then laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt that scored Dunlap to give Newark a 3-1 advantage. Once again Verde showed perfect bat control and bunting prowess.

“Every little bit helps. We’ve been playing small ball all year and it works for us so we’ll keep doing it,” Verda said. “I was glad I was able to contribute in a key time of the game. I never know where my bunts might be going but they turned out well today.”

After Monkemeyer walked Vickroy delivered the death nail into the Putnam County coffin. On a two-one count the junior laced a double into the left center field gap that scored Johnson and Monkemeyer and Newark was in command by the score of 5-1.

“I went to the batting cages on Sunday and spent an hour and a half trying to change my swing while keeping my arms back. It sure look like it helped today,” Vickroy said.

Dunlap (4-3) came on in the bottom of the seventh and promptly retired the Panthers on six pitches giving Newark their place in Norsemen immortality. His complete game clutch performance couldn’t have come at a bigger time

“We’ve been hoping for this all year and knew we could do it. We showed the desire to win today and we got it done,” Dunlap said. “We certainly are a team and that’s what wins ballgames. We’ve relied on Kyle all year to carry the load for us. With this win we’ve finally showed that it isn’t just one person that produces champions, it’s the whole team as a group.”

For once Janssen did play an inconspicuous role in the Newark success. But Newark fans know that their team is more about just a player. The win against Putnam County proved just that.

“Newark is such a great sports town. For years it has been about basketball and softball. Now hopefully it is about baseball,” Monkemeyer said. “You’re not just playing for the school, you’re playing for the communities that make us who we are. We won this regional not only for our school, but we won it for the towns of Newark, Millbrook, and Lisbon. It’s definitely something we can be proud of winning our first regional in baseball for the first time over the past 70 years. It feels so good.”

The euphoria of victory certainly has a chance of continuing as the Norsemen proceed onward in IHSA sectional play at Seneca on Wednesday versus the top seeded Reed-Custer Comets.

Cocks plan to use Janssen on the mound in the sectional opener against Reed-Custer is firmly in place. After a brief stay in the shadows the junior most certainly finds himself as the focal point if the Norsemen expect to continue their impressive run through the 2006 playoff season. But Janssen knows the “team” mentality is what ultimately will propel his squad to the next level of greatness.

“We can’t go to just play we’ve got to play to win. We’ve got to give our all and play our hearts out,” Janssen said. “We’ve won a regional and 25 games. Now we’ve got to go out and focus on a new goal and that’s winning sectionals and advancing to the state championship round. I truly believe this team has the talent, mentality, and desire to do just that.”