As a young ballplayer in Bourbonnais, Colin Holderman’s head would hit his pillow at night, allowing time for dreams of dominating the hallowed grounds of Wrigley Field, the ballpark that doubles as a federal landmark.

Holderman grew up playing in ballparks like Slater Field in Bourbonnais (Little League) and Carley Field as a member of the Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School baseball team as he began forming the early tools that became sharpened at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and Heartland Community College in Normal.

And for the first time in his professional career, Holderman, a rookie reliever for the New York Mets, got the opportunity to live his boyhood dream of playing on the hallowed grounds 60 miles from his hometown when he pitched in Saturday night’s game, tossing 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief in a game the Mets won 4-3 in 10 innings.

“It was amazing, definitely surreal,” Holderman said of the night. “Coming out of the bullpen I tried to take a deep breath and downplay it, because I knew it would be high energy with my family there and everything would be great.

“Once I got out there and the crowd was pretty loud, I started feeling it and it was amazing. It was awesome.”

The Mets, who lead the National League East by 2 1/2 games over the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves, visited the friendly confines for a four-game set that took place last Thursday-Sunday.

After not appearing in Thursday’s 8-0 Mets victory, Friday afternoon’s game was rained out until Saturday, giving the two clubs a Saturday doubleheader just like Cubs legend Ernie Banks intended.

Holderman warmed up in the Mets’ bullpen twice in the first game Saturday afternoon, a 2-1 11-inning win for the Mets, but was not summoned by manager Buck Showalter in that first game.

But Saturday night, with the Cubs’ David Bote on first base and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Showalter finally tabbed his rookie revelation out of the bullpen, as the 6-foot-7 Holderman was called upon to relieve Mets ace Max Scherzer and retire Nelson Velazquez and Christopher Morel, both of whom flied out to right fielder Starling Marte to get Holderman out of the seventh.

“It was definitely a long day, but a long day in the big leagues goes pretty quick,” Holderman said. “I got up twice in the first game and it would have been great to throw then, but I’m happy with what happened.

“Whatever Buck says goes, so I’m just ready whenever.”

The flyout to Morel that ended the inning came on a 95 miles-per-hour sinker that caught enough of the plate for the Cubs’ biggest rookie surprise of the first half to lift Cubs fans out of their seats at the crack of the bat, but the lakefront winds did their job and kept a pair of streaks alive for Holderman — he has now stranded all eight baserunners he has inherited and not allowed a home run through his first 14 appearances, according to the Mets’ media relations department.

“I knew that [at] Wrigley when the wind blows in, it plays huge, so I didn’t want to nibble [around home plate],” Holderman said. “If you’re gonna hit it and try to hit it out through the wind, good for you.

“He hit a good shot, 105 off the bat with a good launch angle, and when I threw it I thought it might have a shot, but I figured it was gonna be a little short,” he added. “And thank the Lord it was.”

Holderman needed just five pitches to get out of the seventh, which allowed him to come back out for the eighth, where he saw Cubs rookie right fielder Seiya Suzuki send a screamer back up the middle, a liner that couldn’t have been hit more directly into Holderman’s glove if the two were connected with a string, followed up with a strikeout of Nico Hoerner and a 3-1 putout of Frank Schwindel, ending his Wrigley Field debut with a line of 1 2/3 innings, one strikeout, no hits, no walks and no earned runs.

Since he was called up from Class AAA Syracuse on May 15, the same day he made his debut against the Seattle Mariners, Holderman has been one of several bright spots on a Mets team that has been one of the top contenders in the sport this season. In 15 appearances, Holderman has tossed 17 2/3 innings and posted a perfect 4-0 record with a 2.04 earned run average, 18 strikeouts and a walks and hits per innings pitched of 1.02.

Holderman credited both his early successes and the welcoming reception he has been given from his teammates and coaching staff for helping him find his big league confidence. And as a reliever who began his minor league career as a starting pitcher, he credited the development of his sinker that has been much more efficient than the four-seam fastball he used to offer, and the growth of his slider — a pitch he said is often mislabeled as a cutter on TV and by analysts — for helping him find his lane in the bullpen.

“Being a reliever, I definitely needed that wipeout pitch like all the signature ones have,” Holderman said. “My slider was my best pitch as a starter, but I didn’t go to it as much because you can’t show everything early and have to have more balance, because you see everyone three times through [the lineup].

“But throwing an inning, six outs or whatever you need, the slider has been there for me and the sinker is a new addition this offseason that’s changed the game for me.”

The success Holderman has had early in his career has been pivotal for a Mets pitching staff that has seen several pitchers, both in the starting rotation and the bullpen, miss time to injury this season. Showalter credited the development of players like Holderman for allowing the staff to continue to share the load equally as they try to get their staff at full strength for the postseason stretch run.

“Colin has done the job for us,” Showalter said. “ ... We won’t have many guys in the top 50 in appearances because we have a lot of guys who, I don’t want to say are forced to, but we’ve just moved it around to make sure we don’t overload anybody. And Colin’s allowed us to do that.”

Holderman, who had to battle back from multiple arm injuries in the minor leagues, including Tommy John surgery in 2017, a year after he was a ninth-round draft pick of the Mets, was one of those pitchers to miss time when he spent 15 days in June on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement.

But after a brief rehab stint at Syracuse, Holderman has picked right back up where he left off since he rejoined the big league club July 3, allowing one unearned run on one hit, three walks and four strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings in five appearances since his return.

“Having that small little impingement, I wouldn’t say my stuff has gotten better out there, I’ve had to grind through some things,” Holderman said. “[Saturday] I definitely didn’t have my best stuff, but just the pure grit and determination and not giving in, it’s produced some good results.

“It’s been a little different challenge getting ready every day and having to push through extra exercise or treatment, but it feels good to know that even without my best stuff, I can get outs at the highest level and in high-leverage situations.”

The Mets sit atop the National league East at the MLB All-Star break, and when Holderman and his teammates regroup in a few days they'' begin to prepare for the stretch run of the season as the Mets look to make their first postseason appearance since they lost in the Wild Card round in 2016.

And with his childhood dream of playing at Wrigley now scratched off his bucket list, the next dream to become reality could come if the Mets can hold off red-hot divisional rivals in the Braves and clinch the division.

“I’m really excited, but it’s just another day at the office every day,” Holderman said. “We wake up every day and it’s the same thing as we’ve done our entire lives, just a different stage.”

Later this week, Mason Schweizer will share the perspective of Holderman's family as they watched him play over the weekend and the close relationship they all share.