May 19, 2025
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Baseball regional preview

Local storylines to watch out for in the 2025 baseball postseason

By Adam Tumino
Wilmington's Lucas Rink throws a pitch during a game at Coal City Monday, April 21, 2025.

Wilmington's Lucas Rink throws a pitch during a game at Coal City Monday, April 21, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

2A playoffs to provide plenty of local interest

Fresh off a third-place finish at state last season, and with a bulk of that talented team back in 2025, Wilmington hits the postseason looking to follow up on that success.

The (1) Wildcats join a host of local teams in the IHSA Class 2A Beecher Sectional and join a pair of Illinois Central Eight Conference foes in the Coal City Regional. They will face (7) Seneca in one of the regional’s semifinal games with (3) Coal City hosting (5) Reed-Custer in the other. Coal City handed Wilmington its only ICE loss of the season on April 22.

Another ICE team, (3) Peotone is in the Chicago Christian Regional and will face one of those three conference rivals should it manage to win its regional, likely over (2) Chicago Christian.

In the Chicago University Regional, (1) Manteno and (4) Beecher could meet for the regional title should both win its semifinal game.

The Herscher Regional will see four area teams battle it out, with (2) Herscher hosting (8) Momence in one semifinal and (4) Bishop McNamara facing (6) Central in the other. Herscher and Bishop McNamara could provide an intriguing matchup in the regional final, and should either advance to the sectional championship game, an equally compelling matchup with Wilmington.

Wilmington beat Herscher twice in conference play this season and also ended the Tigers’ season in the sectional final last season. The Fightin’ Irish took down Wilmington 3-0 in the 2025 season opener on March 17, making them the only Class 2A team besides Coal City to beat the Wildcats.

In the Millikin University Sectional, (8) Iroquois West will compete in the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond Regional while (10) Watseka will play in the Westville Regional.

Boilermakers look to catch fire again in 4A postseason

Bradley-Bourbonnais' Kason Bynum, left, reaches to apply a late tag on Homewood-Flossmoor's Mateo Morales during a game at Bradley-Bourbonnais Friday, April 11, 2025.

Bradley-Bourbonnais' Kason Bynum, left, reaches to apply a late tag on Homewood-Flossmoor's Mateo Morales during a game at Bradley-Bourbonnais Friday, April 11, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

Bradley-Bourbonnais entered the postseason last season with a record of 11-19. The Boilermakers then won their first four postseason games, winning their first regional title since 2018 in the process, before their magical run came to an end with a loss to Edwardsville in the sectional championship.

While an 11-player senior class led that postseason run last season, this year’s team has a slightly smaller group of seniors, led by Cody Freitas and Mason Shaul, standing out this season along with a sizable junior class of 15 players.

The 2025 Boilermakers have played a bit more winning baseball in the regular season this year. As the six seed in their sub-sectional, they will open the IHSA Class 4A Normal Community West Regional against the host (4) Wildcats, a team they beat 6-3 on April 5. A repeat regional title would likely need to be won over (1) Minooka, one of the top teams in the state.

Kankakee to open playoffs with challenging matchup

Kankakee's Byron Wills throws a pitch during a home game against Bishop McNamara Friday, May 9, 2025.

Kankakee's Byron Wills throws a pitch during a home game against Bishop McNamara Friday, May 9, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

The 2025 season was a bit of a reset for Kankakee with a lot of roster turnover and a new head coach in Nick Crowe. After a streaky regular season for the Kays, they will open the IHSA Class 3A Morris Regional against (1) Morris, perhaps the toughest team they will have to play this season.

Morris went unbeaten in conference play this season in the Interstate 8 Conference and are 22-6 overall as of May 15 while the Kays went 8-9 in Southland Athletic Conference play and are 8-19 as of May 15.

Area 1A teams have sights set on regional upsets

St. Anne-Donovan's Preston Harrington-DeWitt catches an out at second base during the Cardinals' 1-0 loss to Central on Tuesday, April 1.

St. Anne-Donovan's Preston Harrington-DeWitt catches an out at second base during the Cardinals' 1-0 loss to Central on Tuesday, April 1. (Tiffany Blanchette)

Should any of the five local Class 1A teams make a run in the postseason, they are going to have to pull off some upset wins.

In the Milford Regional, four of the five teams competing will be local. In the quarterfinals, (7) Grant Park will host (9) Cissna Park for the chance to play (1) Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley in the semifinals. The other semifinal will feature (4) Milford and (5) St. Anne-Donovan in a rematch of an April 30 game in St. Anne that the host Cardinals won 13-0.

Milford is the only one of these three local teams to have played Gibson City this season, losing 6-0 on May 6.

In the Dwight Regional, (8) Gardner-South Wilmington will host (11) Woodland in the quarterfinals. These teams met on March 21 with Woodland, winning 7-6. The winner of the quarterfinal will face (1) Dwight in the semis.