Baseball season is over for Brimfield/Elmwood, but this bond won't end

GENESEO — Frank Kelch and Drew Bryant and others reached the end of their high school baseball journey Monday as their Brimfield/Elmwood team reached the end of its season.

The Indians gave up a seven-run second inning and could not recover in a 10-0 loss to Joliet Catholic in the Illinois High School Association's Class 2A Geneseo Supersectional at Bollen Field.

It was a frustrating end to a terrific season that saw Brimfield go 31-3.

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"This team has faced so much over these four years, so much adversity, been through so much," said Kelch, who hit over .400 for Brimfield this season while pitching and playing first base. "We lost a year to COVID. I had Tommy John surgery as a junior. Then we lost classmates, friends, too."

In the latter case he was referring to a string of tragedies in which current and former schoolmates died. Specifically, Aaron Miller, who would have on that field Monday, playing alongside Kelch and senior pitcher Bryant had he not died in a 2020 car accident.

"He's always in our thoughts," Kelch said. "The first pitch of the game, I thought about Aaron. I looked into the grandstand and saw his parents there. He'll always be with us."

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The Indians were overmatched on the field Monday, playing against a non-boundary Joliet team that was much larger and competed in Class 3A in 2019. The Hilltoppers are 24-10 on a 2021-22 schedule that included 11 games against teams currently in the Class 3A playoffs.

"There were 180 schools put into Class 2A this year and 140 in Class A," Brimfield coach Brandon Porter said. "Joliet has significantly more enrollment, what are we doing out there playing them? It's just not right, this has to get fixed.

"But they were better than we were, give them credit for how they played. They might very well win state."

The fateful second inning

Joliet sophomore left-hander Jake Gimbel was on the hill for Joliet Catholic and threw a one-hit shutout, striking out eight while walking two and hitting two batters in four innings.

Kelch had a nine-pitch at-bat in the opening frame, including four foul balls, before walking on a full count. Landon Binder's single in the second inning was Brimfield's lone hit.

The second inning was a disaster for Brimfield, as Joliet Catholic sent 11 hitters to the plate, scored seven times and drove Kelch off the mound.

The big right-hander threw 40 pitches in the inning and collected one out. Two runs scored on wild pitches and another on a bases-loaded walk. There were two hit batsmen and an error.

One of Joliet's four hits in the inning was an infield single on which Kelch slipped to the turf after fielding the ball. Then, with the wind whipping 22 mph and causing havoc for fielders, came a wind-aided towering fly to left field that blew back nearly all the way to the infield and dropped for a single.

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When Porter exited the dugout to head to the mound, Kelch was already several steps off it, waiting with ball in hand, arm stretched out, waiting for the coach to take it. He gave up seven runs (six earned) on four hits, four walks, one hit batsman and two wild pitches.

"I couldn't get a 1-2-3 inning," Kelch said. "And I couldn't get a 1-2-3 out, there were no routine at-bats. I didn't know what else to do."

The Indians brought in righty Bryant after Kelch reached 64 pitches in 1⅓ innings. Joliet Catholic stretched its lead to 7-0 when a fielder's choice brought one run, then an error on catcher Kyle Binder when his throw to second on an attempted steal bounced into center field for another.

"I knew it wasn't the best position to be in when I came in there," Bryant said. "I understood the situation."

'It's about relationships'

When it was over, the game shortened to five innings because of the 10-run margin, Brimfield gathered in short left field one last time while Joliet celebrated through a championship ceremony at home plate.

"They got a lot of breaks," Porter said. "Our seniors battled so hard, this team has been through so much. This senior class, they won more games than just about any group in our history."

He told his players he knew how disappointed they were, told them he loved them all, told them it was important to look at the big picture.

"Joliet is a good team," Porter said. "But we're a really good team, too. Take away that second inning and we're still playing right now. We had a good season."

He embraced his seniors, including Kelch and Bryant, who in turn hugged each other before the group drifted apart.

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Kelch will play at Carl Sandburg next season. Bryant will play at Augustana College.

They'll play together on the North squad at the McDonald's high school showcase on June 21. After that, they'll never be teammates again.

"We've known each other, played together since T-ball," Bryant said. "The season ends, the team changes ... but the relationships continue on. It's not just baseball, it's relationships."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA: Brimfield/Elmwood loses 2A supersectional to Joliet Catholic