During his time at Wilmington, Wildcats senior Ryan Kettman has celebrated no shortage of athletic accomplishments. His sophomore year, the Wildcats won a state title in football and were third in baseball.

Last fall, the football team added another state championship, and after helping the boys basketball team to perhaps its best-ever season over the winter, Kettman and his classmates are eager to end their careers with another state plaque.

“We know there’s not a lot of time left,” Kettman said. “We can only guarantee us one more. Every game can only guarantee one more if you win and we know the maximum we can get are four more. So we’re trying to just stay together as a team and keep moving forward.”

The Wildcats felt that urgency when they fell behind in the top of the first inning of Wednesday’s Class 2A Herscher Sectional semifinal against Manteno. But after a three-run bottom of the first, Kettman’s laser beam of a solo home run to right in the bottom of the second and a near-complete game from fellow senior Dirks Geiss guaranteed the Wildcats at least one more game with a 6-2 victory.

That next game will come at 10 a.m. Saturday when the Wildcats (25-6-1) look for their third straight sectional title against a Marquette (35-3) squad that’s up a class after winning the last two Class 1A titles and a 15-3 win over IC Catholic in Wednesday’s first semifinal.

“I’m more just excited that I get to experience this,” Geiss said. “Not everyone gets to experience a sectional like this. It’s four really good teams, and those teams are going to hit. From a pitcher’s perspective you’ve just got to deal with it, and from a hitter’s perspective you know that you’re just going to hit a good line drive, and it’s going to feel good against a really good pitcher.”

Geiss was a really good pitcher himself Wednesday. The Panthers put the first tally up when Maddox Toepper singled and eventually scored when Connor Harrod reached on an error. But Geiss escaped what became a bases-loaded jam with no further damage and quickly got a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Cooper Holman’s two-out single brought Geiss in to tie it, and one at-bat later, Brysen Meents reached first on a dropped third strike and high throw to first, a play that allowed Declan Moran to score and kept the inning alive for a Colin Strong RBI single.

In the second, Kettman took advantage of a 1-0 fastball, with the left-handed hitter pulling a missile down the right field line, a homer Kettman said was one of the best swings and feelings off the bat he’s ever had.

“I always look for a heater, and if I get something else I adjust,” Kettman said. “But I knew they had to come with it eventually.”

After a shaky first inning, Geiss settled in, and although the Panthers were able to find ways on base, couldn’t find ways to score. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on seven hits, four walks and two strikeouts over 6⅔ innings before reaching the pitch count. Tyler Krand forced a 1-3 groundout off the bat of Gio Arrigo to end it.

“I kind of thought back to my beginning days when I first got here,” Geiss, a three-year starter, said. “I was kind of all over the place and had to think of one thing that would be able to help me work inside the zone. That was just thinking of throwing it through the catcher’s chest.”

Kettman (2 for 2, HR, 2 R, 2 BB) scored his second run on a wild pitch in the fourth. After an Arrigo sacrifice fly brought Jake Stevens home in the fifth, Nash Rink scored on a wild pitch in the sixth for Wilmington.

With a core like Kettman, Geiss and catcher Zach Ohlund (1 for 3, BB) leading the charge with at least three years of starting experience each, Wilmington coach Mike Bushnell knows not many coaches are as lucky as he is.

“All three of those kids, Dirks, Kettman and Ohlund grew up big time this year,” Bushnell said. “They’re three-year starters, all three of them – Kett is actually four and Zach partially four – so they’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of guys feed off of it."

Harrod had a 2-for-4 day to lead the Panthers (24-10), who won their second straight regional this spring. Campbell allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits, three walks and three strikeouts before Braden Jedlicka allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits, two walks and four strikeouts.

“I felt like we had opportunities all game long where we just couldn’t come up with the big hit,” Manteno coach Matt Beckner said. “Two-out hitting is normally what wins you ballgames, especially at this part of the season with both teams being capable of playing the way that they do.”

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Wilmington's Dirks Geiss reacts after watching the Wildcats defense turn an inning-ending double play in the Class 2A Herscher Sectional semifinal against Manteno Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)