By Drake Skleba

LOCKPORT – The 7^th Annual WJOL Area Invite got off to a rousing start as all four quarterfinal games were very entertaining. At Lockport, No. 4 Joliet Catholic Academy (4-0) ousted the hosts from Lockport 5-2 in the nightcap at Ed Flink Field. In the opening quarterfinal at Lockport, Minooka (4-3) scored in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Plainfield Central 2-1.

At Providence, No. 6 Providence (5-1) slipped past Joliet West 2-1 and at Lemont (3-2), the host Indians struck for five runs in the seventh to stun Plainfield South 7-5.

On Saturday at 11:30 at Lockport, Joliet Catholic will meet Minooka in the semifinals. Lockport (4-2) will meet Plainfield Central (4-2) in a consolation semifinal at 9.

On Saturday at 11:30 at Providence, the host Celtics will play Lemont in a tournament semifinal. The game will be a rematch of the March 17^th battle in which JCA prevailed 6-1. At 9; Joliet West (4-4) will meet Plainfield South (1-3)

in a consolation semifinal.

Minooka 2, Plainfield Central 1

In the first game of the day at Lockport, Minooka’s junior 3B Joe Carnagio singled home senior SS Tyler Thorson with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to give Minooka a thrilling 2-1 win over Plainfield Central.

“I started out bad but I kept my confidence up,” said Carnagio. “It really felt great to drive home the game-winner.”

In the top of the seventh, Plainfield Central tied up the contest at 1-1 as sophomore 3B Matt Ryan (2-for-4, RBI) singled home senior SS Kyle Hunsinger (2-for-3, R,).

The first six innings of this quarterfinal contest was a good old-fashioned pitchers’ duel between Minooka’s Bellarmine University-bound LHP Josh Jimenez (1-1) and Plainfield Central’s junior LHP Tomas Aguilar (2-1).

In the top of the first, Plainfield Central loaded the bases against Jimenez with no outs. Jimenez bore down and struck out the next thee hitters and turned away the Wildcats. Minooka picked up its only run against Aguilar in the first. Aguilar fired 5 1/3 innings of quality work allowing the one run and two hits with five strikeouts.

“I kept the ball down and I was able to strike out the three hitters in the first inning with the bases loaded,” said Jiminez. “It was a great team win for us and we will have to hit better tomorrow.”

Both teams had numerous chances to score. Minooka left 11 men on base and Plainfield Central stranded 10. Indian senior Carson Neushwander picked up the win on the mound after blowing the save opportunity in the top of the seventh.

“Josh pitched a real good game. Pitching out of the first inning jam was a big momentum change for us,” said Petrovic. “Joe Carnagio is a great player but Joe’s even a better person. Joe is a coach’s dream. I was so happy to see him come through for us and I hope it will give him more confidence in his abilities.”

Wildcat senior Joe Sparacio took the loss for Plainfield Central.

Joliet Catholic 5, Lockport 2

Joliet Catholic Academy junior RHP Sam Couch fired four shutout innings of relief and slammed the door on the host Porters in the nightcap at Ed Flink Field. Couch’s battery-mate junior C Alex Voitik led the Hiltoper attack with a pair of hits and three RBI. 

Relieving Illinois-bound LHP Kevin Duchene (2-0) in the fourth, Couch proceeded to blank the Porters over the next four innings, allowing four hits and striking out six.

“I knew I was going to pitch tonight and I was ready,” said Couch. “I did pretty well tonight. There were some areas I felt I could have been better.”

JCA struck for three runs in the bottom of the first as the first five Hilltoppers hit successfully against Lockport starter Nick Davito (2-1). Voitik doubled home a pair and the junior SS Chris Tschida doubled home the third run of the innings.

“It was unbelievable. To beat Lockport in the quarterfinals of the WJOL tourney was a great feeling,” said Voitik.” I just did what I could to help the team win. Sam (Couch) pitched great for us as did Kevin (Duchene).” 

Lockport closed to 3-2 in the fourth, knocking out Duchene on RBI singles from  junior 1B Dan Sullivan and junior Ron Seffler, who had a perfect 3-for-3 night for the Porters.

Voitik added his third RBI of the game in the fifth to increase the Hilltoper lead to 4-2 and JCA No. 9 hitter Andy Gudak (2-for-3, RBI) singled home the final Hilltopper run in the sixth for a big insurance run.

“I got a good bunt down for my first hit,” said Gudac. “On the RBI single, I really tried to hit the ball hard and I succeeded.”
Senior Nate Searing singled to leadoff the Hilltopper first and was followed by senior 1B Ryan Peter who also singled. Both scored on Voitik’s booming double.

“Sam Couch showed his ability over the summer,” said Joliet Catholic Academy coach Jared Voss. “He really burst on the scene tonight. We played a lot of sophomores last year who have really stepped up as juniors this year so far.”

Lockport’s senior 3B Doug Matthews, doubled and singled for the Porters.

“We battled back tonight but we can’t fall behind early against quality teams.” said Lockport coach Andy Satunas. “Nick Davito is going to be our ace this year and he really pitched well for us after a rough first inning.”

Providence 2, Joliet West 1

The No. 4-ranked Celtics scored single runs in the first and second innings and hung on to defeat Joliet West. Celtic senior C Kenny King homered and tripled to lead the Celtics attack. The homer was No 3.of the season for King.

Three Celtic pitchers held West to one hit: University of Notre Dame-bound RHP David Hearne, sophomore Jake Godfrey (1-0) and senior RHP Cristian Ochoa, who nailed down the save.

Lemont 7 Plainfield South 5

Lemont scored five times in the seventh to stun Plainfield South. University of Illinois LHP Tyler Jay (1-2) picked up the win in relief for the Indians.