By Randy Whalen

For the Joliet Central baseball team, it was about being better at the end.

First-year head coach Miguel Silva made sure the Steelmen did that.

"There were a lot of difficult challenges," Silva said. "But we told these guys, let's make the tough moments matter."

They did, never letting down despite a final record of 6-30. That included a 22-game losing streak after a 4-3 start to the season. 

However, that streak ended with a 4-1 victory on Friday, May 16, over host Rich Township (12-18). That was the least amount of runs that Joliet Central gave up all season. 

The good play in that game also carried over to the postseason. The Steelmen were the highest seed in the 18-team Class 4A Lincoln-Way West Sectional. So they had to travel to play a quarterfinal game as part of the Stagg Regional. 

But there, on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, Joliet Central went to South Holland and came away with a 7-2 victory over No. 15-seeded Thornwood (13-15). 

"It was really nice to see all the things we talked about and worked on pay off down the road," Silva said of the Thornwood win. "The guys took care of business, and our pitchers, Gilberto Garcia and Tyler Long, did a really good job of attacking the zone."

Garcia went to the first six innings, allowing two earned runs while walking two and striking out 11. Long, a fellow junior, faced three batters and struck them all out.

Fynn Bernhard, a junior left fielder, had a triple and two RBI. He also walked three times. Sophomore center fielder, Michael Stokes, was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Sophomore second baseman Liam Ganzer (3 runs, 2 BB), sophomore designated hitter Camden Rande (BB, RBI), and senior shortstop Andrew Nixon (run) all had hits. 

Ryan Strabbing, a sophomore right fielder, and Daniel Quiros, a senior right fielder, who also scored a run, had an RBI, and senior Kendall Stevens came in as a courtesy runner and scored a run. The Steelmen scored two runs in the top of the second, and the game was never tied after that. They added one in the fifth, two in the sixth, and two in the seventh. The Thunderbirds had single runs in the fourth and fifth. 

The win advanced Joliet Central to the regional semifinal on Wednesday, May 28.. That ended up being against No. 2-seeded Lincoln-Way West. While the Warriors ended up winning 10-0 in six innings, there was no score through two innings, and it was 2-0 after three.

Lincoln-Way West (28-8), which broke the game open with six runs in the fifth to take a 9-0 lead, got a trio of doubles and two RBI from junior Jackson Mansker.

Junior Michael Pettit pitched a complete game no-hitter, with one walk and 10 strikeouts. The Warriors, however, were upset 4-1 on Saturday, May 31, by the host Chargers (10-28), who were the No. 12 seed in the sectional. 

Only four seniors graduate. Nixon, who played shortstop and pitched, was selected All-Conference in the Southwest Prairie Conference. He will continue his baseball career at Waubonsee Community College. Quiros also signed with Lakeland University to continue his athletic and academic career.

Seniors outfielders Xavier Eggert and Stevens aren't continuing their baseball careers. However, they plan to continue doing great things in college. 

Stevens, whose advice to future Steelmen is "be fearless on the field," plans on attending Kansas State University to study aviation.

Eggert, who was in the Joliet Central baseball and wrestling programs for four years, as well as playing varsity football the past two seasons and being an NHS/SNHS member, is also going to do great things. 

He is off to the Air Force Academy to study aeronautical engineering & become a developmental engineer. 

Eggert, who lists wrestling as his favorite sport, was glad for his time at Joliet Central.

"Practices were different, and it took some time getting used to, but it was good," Eggert said of having Silva take over as head coach this season. "Thornwood was a fun game. It felt good to have another win before the end of the season. That's what we built up to.

"The team was really young this year. We had a lot of sophomores, and I feel it was a good experience for them."

While he's looking forward to being of service at the Air Force Academy, Eggert will always remember his time with the Steelmen.

"I'll probably remember the people I spent my time with the most," Eggert said. "I feel that defined my experience."

Silva, who's been coaching in some capacity for half his nearly 30 years, enjoyed his first season as Joliet Central's head coach. He believes the Steelmen should learn from the whole season.

"In my first year, I learned a lot about our guys," he said. "We want to build a culture, and we are going to have to continue to work at that. The best thing is that we've had to learn to be in lock step with the lower levels and the varsity. 

"We want to focus on lower-level development and continue to focus on that at our summer camp. We have a great camp where the varsity guys get together with the incoming freshmen. We've got to keep going. That's our focus, to keep going."

That paid off this season, as there was a slew of sophomores. One of them was Ryan Cooling, who often played first but can also play the outfield and pitch. He was named the team MVP. 

Cooling started as a pitcher against Lincoln-Way West, allowing six hits and six runs (4 earned) over four and one-third innings, with two strikeouts and one walk.

"Ryan came out against a top team in the state and showed why he was our team MVP," Silva said of the game against the Warriors. "I'm really excited about his development. 

"Our focus on the end of the season was good. The way we came out and played against Thornwood and Lincoln-Way West not only showed how we could play. It showed where we are as people."