Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic has led enough teams into the postseason to know that the every team has a different vibe.

Some of those teams thrived in the one-game winner take all format while others wilted on the pressure of the momentum.

And if the way Minooka has played in the first two games of the postseason are any indication, this version of the Indians is indeed thriving.

With a combination of a relentless offense and yet another stellar pitching performance Minooka rolled to the Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional title with an 11-1 five inning victory over Plainfield Central.

Minooka (29-6) will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Illinois State University against Normal Community in the Class 4A Normal Community Sectional. Normal Community, widely considered the top team in Class 4A, defeated Moline 10-0 in the Class 4A Moline Regional.

“You set all of these little baby steps to the big prize and that’s the postseason,” Petrovic said. “We stress this as a program that this is where you want to be and the situation you want to be in.

“It’s what separates high school baseball from other types of ball. The postseason creates the kinds of moments that kids will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Minooka took an early 1-0 lead on a Rhett Harris RBI single in the first, but the Indians really began to apply the pressure in the second. The first six Minooka hitters reached and a two-run double by Gavin McReynolds started to break things open.

In all, Minooka sent nine batters to the plate in the frame and led 5-0 when the dust cleared. Two innings later, Minooka would roll the lineup over again, sending 10 to the plate with the big blow coming on a three-run homer from Brady Kozlowski. Three more hits following the blast stretched the lead to 10-0.

“I think we kind of came out with a chip on our shoulders today. We really wanted to get this regional title because we failed last year,” Kozlowski said.

All of this offense was more than enough support for Minooka starting pitcher Cam Rujawitz. He allowed just two hits in the contest and only relented once in the fifth when back to back hit batsmen allowed the Wildcats to scratch across their lone run of the game.

That only staved off elimination for the Wildcats for a few minutes though as Landon Currie and Kozlowski rapped back-to-back doubles to lead off the fifth inning and invoke the mercy rule.

It was a rough finish for Plainfield Central and wasn’t indicative of what the program achieved during the regular season including a SPC East Division title and a 15-game winning streak midway through the season.

“We didn’t have the execution that we necessarily needed today,” Plainfield Central coach Rob Keane said. “But that doesn’t change the fact of how proud of the guys we are. Today’s the end, but it doesn’t define what we did this season.”

Minooka moves on to a daunting task in Normal Community. The Ironmen are at or near the top of everyone’s lists of favorites to win the Class 4A title. Normal Community has six players committed to NCAA Division I schools for next season including potential draftee Gavin Swartz, an Indiana commit, that threw one of the Ironmen’s eight no-hitters this season in the regional semifinal round.

But Minooka doesn’t plan to relent to Normal Community’s impressive resume without a fight.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Kozlowski said. “We want them.”

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