Wilmington offense, Lucas Rink relentless in toppling Coal City

COAL CITY – Monday’s Illinois Central Eight showdown of its top two teams, Wilmington and Coal City, started early.

As it turned out, Wilmington was more than eager to get started.

Wilmington’s first batter of the game, Ryan Kettman, swatted a home run to start a 15-hit Wildcat attack, and Lucas Rink limited Coal City to two hits in a near complete game as the Wildcats rolled to a 9-0 victory.

“I think the kids just came with the right mindset today,” Wilmington coach Mike Bushnell said. “They were ready to go.

“I’ve really got nothing negative to say about today’s game. I thought it was all positive. All around they were hyper-focused, with great approaches at the plate. Couldn’t ask for anything better.”

After Kettman led off the game with a home run, it did take a bit for Wilmington (11-6, 7-0) to dent the plate again. But seemingly every inning the Wildcats threatened, stretching the lead to 4-0 in the third on a two-run blast from Kyle Farrell and tacking on two more in the sixth to blow the game open.

All the support Rink needed came with Kettman’s homer, as Rink comfortably worked his way through the Coal City (14-4, 6-1) lineup. He finished with 10 strikeouts, allowing just a second-inning single to Donnie Ladas and a sixth-inning base hit to Connor Henline.

He just missed pitching a complete game, too, having been removed for relief pitcher Kettman because of his pitch count. The reliever promptly picked off a Coal City base runner to end the game without retiring a batter.

“I felt good,” Rink said. “I mean, the slider’s been my No. 1 pitch for the past couple of years, and whenever that’s working, I seem to find success.”

Rink never faced more than five batters in an inning, and only one Coal City base runner advanced past second base.

And although he didn’t need much offensive support, the Wildcats definitely supplied it as every spot in the Wilmington lineup reached base at least once. Shawn James led the potent attack with a four-hit day, while Farrell, Dierks Geiss, Cooper Holman and Drew Jackson all chipped in two-hit performances.

“We just took the momentum, and we never gave it back,” Rink said. “It’s always good to see that, and especially when your leadoff man who’s been struggling finally comes out of his shell and unloads on one, that’s great to see. And everybody gets behind him, and the momentum carries over.”

The Wildcats, who finished third in Class 2A last season, finally seem to be hitting their stride after maneuvering their way through a brutal nonconference schedule. Wilmington has lost just one game to a Class 2A school (Bishop McNamara in the season opener), but has experienced other setbacks against some of the state’s stronger, larger programs.

“It is by design,” Bushnell said. “And even though you tell the kids, ‘You know what we are doing here?’ it can still be tough, making sure that those kids stay together and they don’t lose confidence.

“I think we started 1-4, and it doesn’t matter who you are playing, that can be tough on a team. That might not work out for every team, but this team, I knew they can handle something like that, and I think it is really going to benefit us down the stretch.”