Bonahoom nearly ready to try on a new uniform

JOLIET — Multisport athletes often need to make quick transitions.

Peter Bonahoom will be making one after he plays his final baseball game in a Prospect uniform in today's Class 4A third-place game at Silver Cross Field.

On Sunday, he'll be headed to Champaign in his hopes of eventually becoming a big hit on the football field for the University of Illinois.

“I was talking with one of the kids on the bench and he asked me about it,” Bonahoom said after the Knights' 9-1 loss to Providence in Friday's 4A state semifinal. “It's been a fun ride. It feels like I've played 1,000 games in a Prospect uniform.”

None were bigger than the Knights' first appearance in the state baseball finals. Bonahoom hit a deep fly to right to move Luke Bergman to third in his first at-bat, doubled and scored in the fourth inning and singled in the sixth.

But succeeding on a big stage is nothing new for the program's career home run leader.

“What he brings to the table is an attitude,” said Prospect coach Ross Giusti earlier this week. “He plays the game very confidently. He's had so many big hits over the last three years.

“When the game is on the line he's the guy you want in the box. He's always been that way and that's always been his demeanor.”

Bonahoom made an immediate impression at when he joined the Prospect varsity baseball team as a sophomore. But now his game will be football as he is headed to Illinois as a preferred walk-on at wide receiver.

“I gave a lot of thought to playing both and talked to a couple of schools (about baseball),” Bonahoom said. “‘Barney' (local instructor Tom Barnard) got in contact with some schools. But pretty much from my junior year on it was football all the way.”

Bonahoom said he had scholarship interest from Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) schools such as Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Southern Illinois and Indiana State. The top-notch student also had Ivy League interest from Harvard and Penn.

He wants to give playing at the highest level a shot. Having former Prospect baseball and football teammate Miles Osei at Illinois as a backup quarterback turned out to be a good selling point.

“From the moment I walked on campus and going back to my junior year,” Bonahoom said, “I loved the coaching staff and Miles gave me some good propaganda. I felt it was the best place for me.

“Playing in the Big Ten is something I felt I could do.”

But today, there will be no better place for Bonahoom to be than back in center field alongside a close-knit group of friends one final time.

“It's been a fun time,” Bonahoom said. “Baseball has always been a passion of mine and it's been an amazing ride.”

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com