Will Burke’s gem leads Plainfield North past Hinsdale Central into the regional finals

PLAINFIELD – Playoff seeding rarely tells the full story. While a higher-seeded team may often be considered the favorite, you can never count the underdog out.

That was evident in the Class 4A Plainfield North Regional semifinal baseball game Wednesday between Plainfield North and Hinsdale Central. The 13th-seeded Red Devils gave the fourth-seeded Tigers one heck of a fight for three innings.

Then Plainfield North showed why it was given the fourth seed.

After a scoreless 2½ innings, the Tigers put two on the board in the bottom of the third, added another later and shut out the Red Devils to earn a 3-0 win. Plainfield North now advances to the regional final against the winner of Thursday’s game between Oswego and Naperville North.

Plainfield North (22-12) got a fantastic game out of pitcher Will Burke. The senior gave up four hits, walked one and struck out five for a shutout. Burke threw 59 strikes on 85 pitches in a solid effort.

“Obviously, the kid on the mound for us pitched really well,” coach John Darlington said. “He kept us in the game, threw strikes and put it over the plate for the most part. The offense put the ball in play and made plays while taking advantage of a couple of mistakes [by Hinsdale Central].”

One mistake Darlington referred to came in the third inning. Chase Holtzman reached first on an error and later advanced to third on a fielder’s choice that resulted in no outs. Hinsdale Central got an out on a fielder’s choice the next at-bat, but not before Holtzman crossed home plate.

Gavin Persson later singled on a hard ground ball to left field, scoring Johnny Andretich and making it 2-0.

The only other run of the game came in the fifth, thanks to a few more mistakes by Hinsdale Central. Matt McCormick reached base after being hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a pair of sacrifice hits and eventually scored on a wild pitch. That gave the game its final score.

The Plainfield North offense actually produced only three hits and one walk, but the Tigers executed when they needed to. It also helped that the defense committed only one error and Burke placed them in good position.

“My defense was making a lot of plays,” Burke said. “There were a couple of double plays that got turned in a tough position for me. My curveball was working pretty well, and that’s about it.”

Hinsdale Central (17-17) got solid work out of pitchers Billy Main and Patrick Connors, who combined to allow three hits, one earned run and one walk with three strikeouts. The offense just couldn’t get flowing, as Dylan Kassab’s 2-for-3 day was the best the Red Devils could do.

The Red Devils graduate 10 seniors whom coach Jason Ziemer expressed tremendous gratitude for.

“It’s always a difficult day to go back to our place as a group, talk about the year and say goodbye to the seniors,” he said. “They’re a great group of guys that put their hearts and souls into the program. I’m going to miss them dearly.”

Although 10 seniors is a lot to replace, 16 varsity players return, including some key contributors. Ziemer expressed optimism for the future of the team.

“We were definitely junior and sophomore heavy,” he said. “The seniors were great leaders throughout the year, but we do have a lot of returners, so it’s looking great for the future.”

Plainfield North will host the regional championship at 10 a.m. Saturday. Regardless of which team the Tigers play, Darlington said the approach will be the same.

“I think you have to throw strikes,” Darlington said. “You can’t give them free base runners, and you need some timely hits. If we keep doing that, we’ll keep moving and see how it goes.”