Evan Massey: Three straight trips to state — the 1989 Silver Streaks and Galesburg’s baseball dynasty

1989 season preview

After winning the State Championship in 1988, the Streaks had lost key players to graduation. Four of the top five hitters from ’88 — Goodman, Stanley, Davis, and Taylor — were all gone, with only Doug Sholtis returning.

On the mound, the top two starters — Stanley and Libby — both graduated.

After two consecutive trips to the State Tourney, the returning players still had high expectations for the ’89 season. Lance Aten, Jeremy Kleine, Al Satunas, Eric Gillenwater, and Doug Sholtis had played major roles for the Streaks in 1988.

Trip to Missouri

After the success of 1987 and 1988, Coach Bruington set up an early season trip to Springfield, Missouri. The hope was for better weather farther south and a schedule of top teams in Missouri. The Streaks did not get great weather but they got great competition.

Unfortunately on the trip, several of the players were suspended, so the Streaks were shorthanded. Galesburg went 1-2 on the trip, including a loss to Missouri’s defending State Champs, Hillcrest.

11-game winning streak

When the Streaks returned, they put together an 11-game winning streak with an asterisk. They won eight games in a row, had a tie with Quincy, then won three more in a row. This set the Streaks at mid-season at 12-2.

The ’89 Streaks were not as explosive offensively but featured timely hitting. In the 3 through 7 spots in the batting order, Galesburg featured Doug Sholtis, Lance Aten, Al Satunas, Dusty Rhoades, and Frank Johnson. From No. 3 through No. 7, the batting averages were .387, .447, .357, .371, and .372. In the regular season, Aten hit .447 with 7 homers and 16 stolen bases.

At the top of the order there was Jeremy Kleine with a .595 on-base percentage, and Brad Cosgrove hitting .390.

The batting order for most of the year was: 1 — Kleine, 2B; 2 — Brad Cosgrove, SS; 3 — Sholtis, DH; 4 — Aten, CF; 5 — Satunas, 1B; 6 — Rhoades, RF; 7 — Frank Johnson, 3B; 8 — Joe Schwab, C; 9 — Sergio Interial, LF.

The pitching staff was deep, featuring starters Doug Sholtis, Eric Gillenwater, and Lance Aten. The new addition was 6-foot-7 Dusty Foster, who was throwing an overpowering fastball around 90 mph.

Mid-season slump

The Streaks hit a bump in the road, going 2-4 in the middle of the season. It included two losses to Rock Island (5-1, 6-4) and one loss each to Alleman (10-6) and Peoria Notre Dame (2-1).

Another winning streak

The mid-season slump dropped the Streaks’ record to 14-6. Galesburg did not lose another regular season game, finishing at 22-6. The Streaks tied with Rock Island for the Western Big 6 Conference championship. Five players earned All-Conference honors — Dusty Rhoades (OF), Lance Aten (OF), Doug Sholtis (P, DH), Eric Gillenwater (P), and Brad Cosgrove (SS).

Regional move

For the first time since Sundberg Field was built in 1974, Galesburg did not host the IHSA Regional tournament. Instead the Regional was at Rock Island.

Galesburg faced Moline (14-12) in the semifinals. Doug Sholtis pitched the opening game, bringing a 7-1 record, a 2.00 ERA, and 66 strikeouts in 38 innings. GHS needed a two-out hit by Joe Schwab in the seventh inning to win the game.

The host Rocks were the opponents in the Regional championship. Galesburg had lost to them twice in the regular season. Streak batters wasted no time, scoring four runs in the first before anyone was put out. The first inning featured a three-run homer by Lance Aten. Eric Gillenwater moved his record to 6-0 and kept his ERA under 1.00.

Back to Limestone

For the third year in a row, Galesburg was sent to the Limestone Sectional. In a low-scoring game, the Streaks beat Pekin 3-1. Doug Sholtis went five innings and left with the Streaks up 2-1. He was relieved by Dusty Foster, who pitched two innings of perfect baseball. Galesburg scored in the first on two-out singles by Aten and Rhoades, then picked up an insurance run on a Lance Aten homer, his ninth of the season.

The championship game was Galesburg vs. Peoria Central. Eric Gillenwater pushed his record to 7-0 and his ERA to 0.76 as GHS won 6-1.

Three-peat trip to State

Galesburg opened up in the Elite 8 vs. Lisle Benet (29-7). As was becoming normal, the Streaks scored three first-inning runs on their way to an 11-0 win. Doug Sholtis pitched the full five innings (10-run rule) and did not give up a hit until the fourth inning. Lance Aten stole four bases in the game.

In the semifinals, Galesburg faced Harrisburg (30-1). The Streaks were up 2-1 after four innings, and Eric Gillenwater was sailing along. In the fifth, the Streaks failed to defend a suicide bunt and then made two errors in the inning, which led to a 5-3 loss.

Galesburg came back to win the third-place game over Clemente 13-3 to take third in State.

A great run

Galesburg came within one game — the semifinal loss — of winning back-to-back State titles. At that time, only one other team had ever accomplished that feat.

The Streaks were only the fourth team to ever make three consecutive trips to the baseball state tourney. During this three-year period, Galesburg had a tournament record (Regional/Sectional/State) of 17-2.

The 1989 Streaks finished at 28-7 and third in State. They are one of only two GHS baseball teams to receive a State trophy. Living in the shadows of the ’88 team, the ’89 squad probably never got the recognition that they deserved.

The Silver Streaks had a great regular season, including earning Co-Champs of the Western Big 6 Conference.

State Tourney Run

Reading the previews of the IHSA Tourney series, it would appear that the players and coaches were not intent on “going to State.” After two trips to State and winning a State Championship, it appears the goal of the ‘89 Silver Streaks was to bring back another State Championship.