If recent history is any indication, the Bradley-Bourbonnais baseball team is in much better shape than its current 8-17 record may indicate with the postseason right around the corner.

The Boilermakers will begin playoff action when they host a Class 4A Regional the last week of May. While their sub-.500 record isn’t a fear-instilling mark, the Boilers are defending two-time regional champions, entering the postseason with a losing record in each of the last two years.

They’re the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 Pekin (6-20). in quarterfinal action Monday, May 25. The winner will face a No. 2 Minooka team two days later that the Boilers eliminated on each of their back-to-back regional runs. The red-hot Indians (24-5) have won 12 of their last 13 and six in a row.

If the Boilers can sustain their run, they’d potentially face No. 1 Normal in the Normal Sectional semifinals. The Boilers and Ironmen have met in that round each of the last two years, splitting the matchups.

In Class 3A, Kankakee (7-22) is seeded eighth at the Metamora Regional and will face the top-seeded hosts in semifinal action Wednesday, May 27. The Kays are currently on a three-game losing streak to teams with a combined 54-19 record, but before that enjoyed their largest winning streak of the season with a three-game Southland Athletic Conference sweep of Thornridge.

The same local teams are all back in a Class 2A Sectional that’s boasted some tremendous games in recent years, and now two-time reigning Class 1A State champion Marquette is in the fray too.

The Crusaders (27-1) have showed no signs of slowing down this spring and are the top seed of their sub-sectional. Assuming they get past the winner of the (8)Paxton-Buckley-Loda/(9)Pontiac quarterfinal matchup, they’ll face whichever team emerges from one of the Kankakee area’s fiercest rivalries for the Bishop McNamara Regional championship.

The host Fightin’ Irish (19-6) are seeded fourth and will take on No. 5 Herscher (24-8-1) on Thursday, May 28. The two Kankakee County rivals also met in the football and basketball postseasons, with McNamara winning both matchups. They emerged in last year’s matchup with the Tigers, a 5-0 regional championship performance at Herscher.

On the other side of the Herscher Sectional comes more rivalry action. No. 2 Coal City (22-7) will open up against the winner of the (7)Seneca/(10)Reed-Custer quarterfinal in a May 27 semifinal at Seneca. A day later, No. 3 Wilmington (19-5-1) will face No. 6 Prairie Central (10-14).

The Coalers and Wildcats seem destined for a regional title game rematch. And while Coal City swept Wilmington in Illinois Central Eight play this spring, it was the Wildcats who had the last laugh when Brysen Meents slugged a walk-off homer in a 1-0 championship game win last year en route to their second straight sectional title.

Whoever wins in Seneca will take on the winner of the Manteno Regional. The host Panthers (16-7) are the top seed of their sub-sectional and will face either (8)Peotone or (9)Carver in a May 27 semifinal.

Should Manteno advance, it would look for its second straight plaque against the winner of a May 28 semifinal between No. 3 Beecher (19-8) and No. 5 Sandwich (14-14-1). The Bobcats have won six straight and 13 of their last 14.

With the IHSA’s new classification structure, a slew of local schools have gone from the fringes of Classes 1A and 2A firmly into the former. That includes Clifton Central, a sub-sectional top seed. Fresh off of a River Valley Conference championship, the Comets (16-5) are the top seed of their sub-sectional, and as regional hosts, kick things off in the semifinals on May 27 against the winner of the May 25 quarterfinal between (8)Momence/(9)Walther Christian.

The Comets could face the lone RVC team to defeat them in the regional championship May 30. St. Anne (10-9), who split a May series with the Comets, is the four-seed and faces No. 5 Morgan Park Academy May 28.

That winner would make the Dwight Sectional semifinals, where they’d face the winner of the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Regional. No. 2 Milford (12-10) is the top seed there and on May 27 will face the winner of the (7)Fisher/(10)Cissna Park quarterfinal on May 25.

The host Falcons (7-18) are seeded fourth and have a May 28 semifinal against the winner of the (6)Iroquois West/(11)Schlarman quarterfinal on May 25.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 8 Watseka (7-13) has a May 25 quarterfinal against No. 9 Hoopeston (6-13), with the winner earning a spot in a May 27 semifinal against regional host and No. 1 seed Armstrong (17-3).

At the Dwight Regional, No. 7 Grant Park (6-14) has a May 25 quarterfinal against No. 10 Chicago Air Force Academy (1-10-1), with the winner facing No. 2 Dwight (19-10) in a May 27 semifinal. No. 3 Gardner-South Wilmington (15-10). opens up with a May 28 semifinal against the winner of the (6)Chicago Horizon/(11)Illinois Lutheran quarterfinal.