BACK

Plano Pounds Out Runs And Victories
Reapers Plate 59 in Three Straight Wins

By Bill Lidinsky

After a tough 17-11 loss on April 10 to Serena, the Plano High School varsity baseball team found themselves with a mediocre 4-7 overall record.
At that point head coach Jim Schmidt challenged his club to get back to the 500 mark with three straight victories.

“I knew we were a better team than what we had showed. And after the game versus Serena, I let the guys know that I was confident that they could rally back over the next three games to get back to 500 and a fresh start of sorts,” Schmidt said.

“Rally” would be too soft a word to describe what the Reapers did in their next three ballgames.

Behind a deluge of 59 runs, Plano poured out a trifecta of wins in which they completely battered their opponents with a relentless offensive presence.
A day after the Serena loss, the Reapers hosted Kirkland-Hiawatha on April 11 and rebounded in grand fashion with a 14-4 six inning victory.

Senior Matt Priesman was four-for-four at the plate with three runs scored, while senior Brett Day went one-for-three with four RBI. Plano scored in every inning including a big four run first inning that staked junior starting pitcher Ben Heller to a big lead. Heller pitched five strong innings to record the victory as the Reapers set the tone for the week pounding out 10 hits in the 14 run outburst.

“It was nice to see us rebound after such a tough loss to Serena. What we didn’t know at that time was that was just a start to our three game explosion,” Schmidt said.

On Saturday April 16 Plano took their hot bats on the road to South Beloit for a double-header.

In game one the Reapers hammered out another 13 runs including eight in the third inning to capture a 13-2 victory.

Junior pitcher Eric Nelson kept his team leading E.R.A. at 1.10 giving up no runs and no hits through three innings before being pulled by Schmidt after three.
“I wanted Eric to have another good outing, one that would springboard him into conference play following week,” Schmidt said. “I didn’t want to tire him out because he had pitched some for us earlier in the week. By then the game was in hand so I gave him the rest.”

Priesman collected two more hits in game one along with senior Nick Preston’s two RBI, two hit performance that included a triple. Junior Josh Wright added a two run double and senior Will Brown plated two with a two run single as the Reapers hit parade rolled on into game two.

That’s where Schmidt decided to rest his starters and in the process got some huge performances from his reserves. Junior Jared Ferguson came off the bench going five-for-five at the plate with five RBI as he helped key a 32 run, 21 hit explosion as the Reapers manhandled South Beloit in game two 32-4.

“We showed that we have a lot of reserve talent on this team. I think we have great backups that can start for many teams in the I-8 conference. We’re always ready to step in and we showed today why we’re so tough coming off the bench,” Ferguson said.

In addition to Ferguson’s fine showing in a reserve role, seldom used junior Robbie LeMaster put in a performance for the ages tying a Plano High School record with eight RBI including a home run, double, and two singles.

LeMaster’s 3 run bomb capped a monstrous 13 run second inning that followed the Reaper’s 10 run first inning and gave Plano an unbelievable 23-1 lead after two.

“I didn’t know it was going over the fence. I just put my head down and started running,” LeMaster said. “But I looked up and saw both outfielders walking back so I started jogging around the bases. Coming off the bench and having such a great game really pumps you up. You know you have to do something when they put you in and I was glad to be a part of such a big win.”

Junior starter Brook Bott also added two hits and five RBI along with a three run homer in the first inning as the Reapers roared back to the 500 mark at 7-7.
“It’s just what we wanted to do coming off the Serena loss and we did it in a big way,” Schmidt said. “Robbie and Fergy work so hard for us. Robbie’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever coached, while Fergy does everything you ask for. They stepped up with school records for hits in a game and RBI’s in a game and you just couldn’t be happier for them because they haven’t seen a lot of playing time this season.”

Adding to the onslaught were two hit performances by Day and fellow senior Alex Jensen along with junior’s D.J. Gould and Josh O’Hara. Senior Shawn Gwilt got his first win on the mound for Plano with relief help from Wright.

But the Plano euphoria was short lived as the Reapers dropped a 11-1, five inning decision at Seneca on Monday. Preston took the loss to fall to 1-3, while Plano drops to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the I-8.

The Reapers have a big week ahead. After hosting Seneca on Tuesday, Plano will travel across town to take on Sandwich Thursday afternoon before seeing the Indians come to Plano on Friday for the annual home-and-home rivalry.

“It was a tough loss to Seneca but we’ll be prepared for what could be a make or break week for us,” Schmidt said. “It’s been three years since we’ve had a win against Sandwich on the baseball field so we’ll definitely be up for it. We’ve got to start out at their place which is always tough, but we really want to break this long dry spell against the Indians.”

After the two Sandwich contests the Reapers will play host to Indian Creek on Saturday with a double-header scheduled to start at 10a.m.

PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP - Ottawa Times


Plano 13-32, South Beloit 2-4
At South Beloit, the Reapers evened their season record at 7-7 after a doubleheader sweep over South Beloit.

In the opener, Plano scored two runs each in the top of the first and six innings, and one run in the top of the fourth, along with up eight runs in the top of the third inning.

Matt Priesman went 2-for-3 with a double and scored two runs to lead the Reapers' offense. Brent Day (two runs) and Josh Wright (two RBI) both doubled. Nick Preston tripled. Eric Nelson started and tossed three scoreless innings to recorded the win on the mound.

In the nightcap, the Plano offense erupted for 10 runs in the top of the first and 13 more the following inning.

Jared Ferguson went 5-for-6 with five RBI and five runs scored to lead the Reapers' offense. Robbie LeMaster was 4-for-4 with a home run, double, a school-record eight RBI and four runs scored. D.J. Gould (three runs), Day (three runs), Brook Bott (home run, double, five RBI, three runs), Alex Jensen (three RBI, two runs) and Josh O'Hara (four RBI) all had two hits apiece. Shawn Gwilt notched the victory.


At South Beloit

Game 1

Plano 13, South Beloit 2

PLANO (13) -- Priesman cf 3-2-2-0, Day rf 3-2-1-1, Bott ss 4-2-1-1, Gwilt 1b 4-1-0-1, Jensen lf 2-2-0-1, Brown dh 4-1-1-2, Preston 3b 4-1-2-2, O'Hara c 2-0-0-0, Klingberg 1-0-0-0, Wright 2b 2-1-1-2. Totals 29-13-8-10.

SOUTH BELOIT (2) -- Walmer 2b 3-0-0-0, Eichholz p 2-1-0-0, Wasko 1b 2-1-1-2, Cuyler c 1-0-0-0, Sieler c 0-0-0-0, Rawlett 3b 1-0-0-0, Conway cf 2-0-0-0, Blake ss 2-0-1-0, Alfredson lf 2-0-0-0, Smith rf 2-0-0-0. Totals 17-2-2-2.

Plano (6-7)  208 102 0 -- 13
South Beloit 000 200 0 --  2

E -- Plano 1, South Beloit 2. DP -- Plano 3, South Beloit 0. LOB -- Plano 4, South Beloit 1. 2B -- Day, Wright. 3B -- Preston. HR -- Wasko. SB -- Priesman 2, Jensen 2, Preston 2, Bott, Brown, Ferguson, Eichholz. HBP -- O'Hara, Rawlett. K -- Nelson 3, Gould 0, Klingberg 1, Eichholz 3, Smith 1. BB -- Nelson 0, Gould 4, Klingberg 2, Eichholz 4, Smith 1. WP -- Nelson. LP -- Eichholz.


Game 2

Plano 32, South Beloit 4

PLANO (32) -- Priesman cf 2-3-1-0, Gould lf 3-3-2-0, Day rf 2-3-2-1, Klingberg p 3-0-0-0, Bott ss 4-3-2-5, Brown cf 1-0-0-0, Jensen lf 4-2-2-3, Preston ss 1-2-0-0, Nelson 3-2-1-0, Gwilt p 1-0-0-0, Wright p 1-1-0-0, Ferguson 2b 6-5-5-5, O'Hara c 3-1-2-4, Klingberg 0-1-0-0, Heller 1b 5-2-0-0, LeMaster 3b 4-4-4-8. Totals 43-32-21-26.

SOUTH BELOIT (4) -- Walmer 2b 1-0-0-0, Champlain p 2-0-0-0, Eichholz ss 2-0-1-0, Wasko p 3-1-1-1, Becker c 2-1-0-0, Rawlett 3b 3-1-2-1, Conway rf 2-1-2-1, Sieler cf 2-0-0-0, Blake lf 2-0-0-0, Alfredson 1b 2-0-0-0, Plasensia 1b 1-0-0-0. Totals 22-4-6-3.

Plano (7-7) (10)(13)3 150 0 -- 32
South Beloit 1    0 0 030 0 -- 4

E -- Plano 2, South Beloit 8. LOB -- Plano 6, South Beloit 8. 2B -- Bott, LeMaster, Conway. 3B -- Conway. HR -- Bott, LeMaster, Wasko. SB -- Day 2, Priesman, Gould, Bott, Ferguson, Eichholz, Conway, Sieler, Blake. SAC -- . HBP -- Priesman, O'Hara. K -- Gwilt 5, Wright 2, Wasko 2, Champlain 5, Blake 3. BB -- Gwilt 1, Wright 4, Wasko 5, Champlain 1, Blake 2. WP -- Gwilt. LP -- Wasko.

From Aurora Beacon News

Plano 13-32, South Beloit 2-4 — Robbie LeMaster doubled, homered, and tied a school record with eight RBIs in game two, Brook Bott homered and drove in five runs, while Jared Ferguson had five hits, five runs and five RBIs. Matt Priesman and Nick Preston had two hits each in the first game.