Chris Vaculik, Mark Chagnon, Kenny Firlit and Mike Budde take the field to kick off another day of baseball.

However, they’re not getting ready to play an Ohio Valley Conference team, but a team from the South Inter-Conference Association (SICA) or the Catholic League.

Their manager isn’t Jim Schmitz, but Joe Rodeghero.

The school isn’t Eastern Illinois. It’s New Lenox Providence High School and 168 miles away. And it’s four years ago.

But none of the four said they planned on coming to Eastern, conceding that it was more of a coincidence than anything else.

“It’s hard to imagine four players from the same high school playing together,” senior pitcher Kenny Firlit said. “I guess you could call it fate.”

With Vaculik, Chagnon and Firlit growing up in Orland Park, they became friends and teammates long before they attended Providence.

“Me and Kenny played ball since we were seven,” Vaculik said. “Chagnon lives 10 seconds away from my house. I guess it was meant to be.”

Each has a different story on how they got to Charleston.

Budde, who grew up in Homer Glen, got the Panthers’ attention in 2003 when he was playing in a late-season tournament.

Chagnon attended a summer league camp at Eastern, while Firlit traveled the junior college route at South Suburban Community College.

Three of the players agree that Vaculik was probably the most sought-after prospect at Providence. Schmitz said that Vaculik had some injury problems in the summer of 2003, but that didn’t stop Eastern from keeping tabs on him. After recovering from his summer injury, he worked out in a fall league and was immediately signed by the Panthers.

“It’s a nice connection that we have,” Schmitz said of Eastern’s relationship with Providence. “We’ll continue to hit that area.”

The players say that the Eastern coaches were a big factor in influencing them to play for the Panthers. But the biggest recruiters were the players themselves.

“When we were in high school, Mark wanted to come to Eastern all along,” Budde said. “Then we tried to get Vac and Firlit to come down. We did a little bit of recruiting ourselves.”

Schmitz claims that he doesn’t have any strong connection to Rodeghero or Providence’s baseball program, but the area in itself.

“That’s a great area for baseball,” Schmitz said. “Over the years, the SICA area has produced some great baseball talent. It may look like we have a pipeline to the area, but it’s more coincidence and good fortune.”

Junior infielder Ryan Campbell also lived in the same neighborhood as Vaculik and Chagnon, but attended Orland Park Sandburg High School instead of joining his friends at Providence.

The four players said they tried to get Campbell to join them at Providence. They joke that Campbell made the right choice as he won a state title at Sandburg.

“He lets us know about it every once in a while,” Vaculik said.

There’s also the case of University of Illinois junior pitcher Brian Long. Long, who graduated from Providence with Chagnon and Vaculik, transferred from Eastern to Illinois at the end of his sophomore year.

Campbell’s high school choice is not the only thing the four argue about. While Vaculik and Budde tie their Major League Baseball allegiance to the Cubs, Chagnon and Firlit are die-hard White Sox fans.

“(Mike and I) are getting a lot of hell right now,” Vaculik said. “That’s all we hear is world champions. It’s kind of brutal.”

Even though the four of them may have disputes on which teams they root for, they all agree that the transition from high school to college has been much smoother than what they originally anticipated.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to transfer to Eastern,” Firlit said. “When I was at (junior college), the other three guys persuaded me to come here. It would have been hard for me to come here not knowing anybody.”

Even when the four return home, they still manage to hang out with each other.

“We’ll go home and play cards and basically hang out,” Chagnon said. “No matter where we’re at, we always talk about baseball.”

They also concur that they wouldn’t be at Eastern if it wasn’t for their friends.

“Eastern is a nice school and all,” Firlit said. “but I probably wouldn’t have come here without the other guys.”