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Plano Succumbs To Pitching Gem
Reed-Custer Lefty Ends Reapers Season In Regional Playoffs

By Bill Lidinsky

When you watch Reed-Custer High School junior Tom Kimbro pitch, it doesn’t take very long to realize that you’re watching a very special talent on the pitchers mound.

As the number one hurler on the number one seeded Comet squad in the IHSA Class A Seneca Sectional Complex, it didn’t take Kimbro too long to establish himself as the “king of the hill” during the small school prep baseball regional playoffs hosted by Plano High School from Tuesday May 16 through Saturday May 20.

Unfortunately, the 12th seeded host Reapers would fall under the spell of Kimbro’s pitching magic during the regional semifinals on Thursday May 18 to the tune of a 10-0 defeat at the hands of the junior phenom.

Kimbro stifled Plano allowing only two hits while striking out eight throughout his six inning, complete game shutout that ended the Reapers season with a 16-21 overall mark.

“Kimbro doesn’t overpower you but he’s crafty and he’s a lefty. His ball moves differently than what we normally see from right handers,” said Plano head baseball coach Jim Schmidt. “He changes a lot of speeds with a slow curve ball and a change of pace fastball. So you can’t sit back and drive the ball well because you don’t know what speed he’s coming with. I thought we attacked him pretty well but we just couldn’t generate enough consistent offense to score any runs.”

Kimbro allowed only three Plano base runners on the day that included senior Will Brown’s single in the second inning, junior Josh O’Hara’s walk in the fifth and senior Alex Jensen’s bunt single in the sixth.

Otherwise the Comet’s ace was perfect facing only three batters over the minimum allowable for a six inning contest while raising his record to a sparkling 10-1 in 2006.

Plano junior starting pitcher Ben Heller (6-2) took the loss for the Reapers giving up seven runs on six hits during four and two thirds innings of work.
“Ben matched Kimbro pitch for pitch until the third inning when they got three runs to make it 3-0. We knew right from there it would be tough to score three runs off him. And once they got up, it took any momentum that we might have established away from us and it went down hill from there,” Schmidt said.

Kimbro’s gem halted the Reaper momentum that established two days earlier with a come from behind 8-7 eight inning thriller versus 16th seeded Earlville.
Plano took an early lead on three unearned runs in the first inning off Raider starter Matt Tucker. But Earlville fought back to tie the score in the top of the third as they touched Reaper junior pitcher Eric Nelson for three unearned runs of their own.

Plano took the lead again in the bottom of the third on an RBI ground out by Brown that scored senior Shawn Gwilt who had led off with a triple.
But Earlville plated three more runs off Nelson to go up 6-4 in the fifth before the Reapers once again tied the score in the bottom of the frame courtesy of Gwilt’s RBI double and senior Nick Preston’s RBI sacrifice fly.

The Raiders then tallied a run to go up 7-6 in the top of the sixth off Jensen who had come on in relief of Nelson.
But Plano would not be denied a victory. Trailing by one in the bottom of the seventh, junior Josh Wright hit a bloop single that scored O’Hara with the tying run to send the game into extra innings tied at seven.

“I’ve hit so poorly this season and it was just great to finally contribute in a pressure situation,” Wright said. “Once we got the momentum tying the game in the seventh, we were able to make things happen in the eighth.”

After Heller came on in relief of Jensen in the top of the eighth and retired Earlville 1-2-3, the Reapers sealed the victory.
Gwilt reached on an error by the Raiders right fielder and took second base. Preston then promptly delivered an 0-2 single that scored Gwilt and gave Plano the come from behind win.

“It was good to be able to deliver in a clutch situation at the plate,” Preston said. “We needed that hit at a key time and I was glad that I could make it happen.”
Preston’s heroics put to rest the 162 pitch, gutsy effort of Earlville’s Tucker who performed admirably on the mound as a sophomore.

“You’ve got to give the Tucker kid a lot of praise. He beat us 1-0 earlier in the year at their place and he performed well again today,” Schmidt said. “We were just fortunate to come up with the key hits when we needed them.”

Gwilt was the top performer against Earlville as he stroked a single, triple, and a double in succession before reaching on a walk and the error in the eighth leading the way for the Reapers in victory.

“This is my senior season and I want to go out on a high note,” Gwilt said. “It was nice to be able to contribute in a regional playoff game that meant so much to all of us.”
Unfortunately for Gwilt and his teammates they weren’t so lucky against Kimbro and Reed-Custer.

The top seeded Comets went on to win the Plano Regional with a 9-6 win over Indian Creek in the championship game on Saturday May 20. The Timberwolves advanced to the title game with a 5-4 victory over Somonauk in the other regional semifinal on Friday May 19.

The Reapers conclude the 2006 season finishing five games under 500 along with a 5-9 mark in the tough Interstate Eight Conference.
Schmidt will now lose seven seniors to graduation so rebuilding may be tough.

“I believe we underachieved this season, but I know our seniors gave 100 percent. I’m proud of them and their performances,” Schmidt said. “It didn’t turn out quite like we expected but we experienced success in football this year and hopefully we can continue that next year and make our baseball program just as successful as well. We’ve got some good sophomores coming up in 2007 and I believe with Nelson and Heller coming back as our one-two pitchers next season, we’ll be tough. That’s what we’ll build around along with hopefully the best player in the area in Brook Bott who led us all the way this year offensively.”

Reed-Custer (20-10) now will advance to IHSA Sectional play at Seneca on Wednesday where they’ll take on Little Ten Conference power Newark who won their Regional Championship with a 25-5 record. Kimbro again figures to take the mound against Norsemen ace Kyle Janssen who is undefeated in 2006.

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.”