Plainfield Central answers the bell

Updated: May 23, 2011 9:11PM

Plainfield Central pitcher Justin Kenealy likes the fact his team may be overlooked. The Wildcats lefty believes his team’s record may inspire a false confidence in their opponent.

Kenealy allowed only one earned run in helping his team get by Lincoln-Way Central with a 9-4 victory Monday in the opening round of the Class 4A baseball playoffs in New Lenox. The Wildcats move on to play Lockport on Wednesday.

“Sometimes it’s an advantage to play a team and have them look at our record,’’ Kenealy said. “It puts the pressure on them to win the game.’’

Kenealy (2-7) allowed only five hits and recorded six strikeouts through five innings. The Wildcats (11-20) took advantage of his effort by taking a 6-0 lead after the first two innings.

Nick Woltkamp started the scoring by coming home on a wild pitch. Joe Sparacio followed him to the plate on an RBI double by Brandon Mackowiak.

“Justin threw very well today,’’ Plainfield coach Bob Dobbertin said. “He has had it in him all year to throw like this. He kept their hitters off balance all day.’’

The Wildcats took control of the game in the second inning by pushing across four runs. Steve Heffernan came through with an RBI single and Marc Young followed that with an RBI double to drive Heffernan in from first base. Eric DeLoach brought in two more runs with a triple that hit the left-field wall.

Central (14-18-1) scored a run in the third on an RBI single by Evan Branyik. The senior shortstop was one of the few bright spots for the Knights at the plate. Branyik was 2-for-2 with a couple of walks. He was the only Knights player with a multihit game.

Young, Woltkamp and Sparacio came around to score for Plainfield in the fourth inning, making the cushion 9-1. Young (2-4), Woltkamp (2-4) and Sparacio (2-3) all had multihit games from the top three spots in the order.

“We put ourselves in a hole early and it was too tough of one to get out of,’’ Bieterman said. “Give credit to them. They took advantage of the opportunities that we gave them.”

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