Top of the order hitters are often classified as table setters.

And those assigned with that task for the Plainfield Central baseball team took that job so seriously on Thursday afternoon that one had to believe they were ready to eat a grand meal.

The top four hitters in the lineup reached base in some way 15 of the 16 times they came to the plate and the 16th was also a fruitful at-bat providing a sacrifice fly as Plainfield Central rolled into the championship game of the Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional with a 13-1 five-inning win over Peoria Richwoods.

Plainfield Central (22-8-1) faces Minooka in the regional title game, also at Bradley-Bourbonnais at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Minooka beat Plainfield Central twice during the regular season. Richwoods closed its season with a 17-19 record.

The Wildcats wasted no time in flexing their offensive mettle as the first four Wildcat batters reached. Even Plainfield Central’s first out of the game was a productive one as Ryder Sisti launched a sacrifice fly to stretch Plainfield Central’s early lead to 2-0.

“Our kids have been great with approach all year,” Plainfield Central coach Rob Keane said. “We’ve put together a lot of games where everybody or anybody is going to come up with hits at any point.

“We really went up there one through nine and came up there with a plan to get on base and when you can get on base good things tend to happen.”

Plainfield Central’s second inning flurry almost seemed improbable. The first two batters of the inning reached for the Wildcats but both were taken out on the basepaths. Then with two outs, six consecutive Wildcats reached, including a three-run double from Ryder Sisti that broke things open and allowed Plainfield Central to lead 7-0.

That was more than enough run support for Plainfield Central starting pitcher Cole Sisti. He struck out five batters in the first two innings and even though he was touched up for an earned run in the third inning he was able to pitch with a confidence of a player that knew his team had his back both offensively and defensively.

“It made the job 10 times easier,” Cole Sisti said. “The energy in our dugout gave me all the confidence in the world.”

After allowing the unearned run in the third, Cole Sisti finished off a solid effort by retiring the last seven batters he faced in order.

“Cole has been great for us all season,” Keane said. “He came in on lockdown today and did a great job of understanding what it was going to take.”

The win lifts the Wildcats into the regional title game where they will face Minooka for the third time this season. Minooka won both contests, a 6-5 decision in the WJOL Tournament in early April and then a 10-3 decision in a SPC crossover match one week later.

Keane believes his team is in a better position to make a run at the Indians then they were earlier in the campaign.

“They (Minooka) do a great job with their kids and it is a good team. And we’ll obviously use it as an opportunity for us to reset,” Keane said. “It’s a testament to the SPC that the East and West winners will meet for the regional championship. I think it will be a good game.”

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