Joliet Central continues new era with convincing win over Bremen

JOLIET – It’s a new era for the Joliet Central baseball team. After serving as the Steelmen skipper for a decade, Fitzgerald stepped down last summer to take over as the Athletic Director for Central.

The results in Fitzgerald’s first year of leadership have been positive so far. The first football win in five years, a playoff victory in girls basketball, and so far a strong start to the baseball season for new head coach Miguel Silva and company.

The strong start continued Friday as the Steelmen took a home victory over Bremen 9-2. The win moves the Steelmen to 3-2.

While 3-2 may not sound like anything to write home about, keep in mind this was a team that won eight games a year ago. The team won its first two games before being handled 24-0 by the defending Class 4A state champion Providence. The Steelmen proceeded to lose 15-2 to Metea Valley, but that’s the same Metea Valley that’s undefeated and rolling to wins against every opponent they’ve faced.

Then came Fridays game in which Joliet Central put the struggles of the past two contests behind them to hold control throughout. Andrew Nixon (2 for 2, three runs, five steals) and Adrian Albor (2 for 4, two runs, one steal) were outstanding at the plate. Ryan Cooling (six innings, four hits, three Ks and no earned runs) put up a solid performance on the mound.

“I thought the guys did a great job the past couple of days,” Silva said. “I think it started in practice on Wednesday. The kids are really buying in every day and trying to grow and learn how to get better 1 percent each day. They came out today and they were absolutely locked in from the first pitch.”

The Steelmen scored three runs in the opening inning and were up 4-0 before Breman began to threaten. A sacrifice fly and a groundout in the third cut the Braves’ deficit in half. Just as they didn’t panic after the last two games, the Steelmen didn’t panic in the third. Gilberto Garcia scored on a sacrifice fly and Central added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 7-2.

Another two runs in the fifth gave the game its final score.

It wasn’t just the final score that was impressive about this victory. The Steelmen finished with nine stolen bases. The Bremen defense only committed three errors as Central earned eight of their runs. The defense committed two errors, but this is a group that also entered the year with limited experience and a new coaching staff. In addition to Fitzgerald, longtime Central assistant Tony Juarez retired in the summer.

Yet Friday, the Steelmen looked very much like a cohesive, experienced group.

“Our season started in September with the open gyms,” Silva said. “We’re trying to build a culture here with a brand new staff with the program. I know the word culture gets thrown around a lot, but it’s the reality. We’re trying to set that expectation and establish a work ethic and unity within this community.”

Joliet Central isn’t getting ahead of itself. The team started 3-3-1 last year and only won five games the rest of the season. A good start is nice, but it’s also just a start. Nixon and company are aware of that, and they’re keeping it in mind as they venture into this long season.

“We’re practicing every day even in the offseason,” Nixon said. “It’s starting to come together on the field. ... We’re just going to go out there and compete with every single team no matter what the score is or who they are. We’re always going to compete.”