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JOLIET – Lucas Simulick knew he had a job to do.
The Joliet Catholic Academy sophomore shortstop came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 4-all tie with Minooka in the championship game of the WJOL Don Ladas Memorial Tournament at Duly Health and Care Field. The Hilltoppers had runners on second and third with one out.
Simulick fell behind the count 1-2 but was able to hit a grounder to second, which brought home Keegan Farnaus, who had led off the inning with a walk, with the eventual winning run.
“I was just wanting to put the ball in play,” Simulick said. “I got two strikes on me and got a curveball. I was able to sit back on it and put it in play to the right side.
“We work on things like that all the time, situational hitting, going the other way. It paid off today.”
Minooka, however, refused to make it easy for JCA to close out its second straight tourney title.
The Indians got a single by Carter Lennington to lead off the top of the seventh, and Isaac Goddard (3 for 4) followed with another single to right. The throw from short to the pitcher got away, and the Minooka runners moved up to second and third.
Ben Muhich then laid down a bunt, but JCA pitcher John Baltz pounced off the mound to pick it up and flip to catcher Zach Pomatto, who tagged out courtesy runner Hayden Host before he got to the plate. That still left Minooka with runners on first and third with one out, but Baltz struck out the final two batters to clinch the win.
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“This is a great tournament with a lot of good teams, so just to get to where we did shows something,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “We just needed to play better today. Out of their five runs, three of them were guys that we walked to start an inning. You can’t give a good team like JCA free runners to start an inning or they will make you pay.
“It’s hard to find words right now, but we will be in good shape down the road. We have some guys that aren’t playing their best yet. We expect that to happen, and when it does, we will be much better.”
After JCA starter Rocco Szembelan held Minooka scoreless in the top of the first, the Hilltoppers got to Minooka’s Ryan Anderson, an Arizona commit, for two runs in the bottom half. Matt Simmons led off with a single before Pomatto walked. After a strikeout, Zach Beitler singled through the middle to score both Simmons and courtesy runner Drew Wills, both of whom had moved up on a passed ball.
Minooka answered quickly, getting RBI singles from Nate McBroom and Noah Munson (2 for 4) in the top of the second to tie it. Anderson retired the Hilltoppers in order in the bottom of the second, and Minooka took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third when Goddard singled in CJ Deckinga, who led off with a single, went to second on a balk and to third on a wild pitch.
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JCA regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Simmons led off with a walk and went to third on a single by Pomatto. A single to right by Jake Troyner scored Simmons and courtesy runner Wills went to third. Troyner then bluffed a steal of second, drawing a throw. On the throw, Wills sped home with the lead run. Troyner was thrown out stealing on the next pitch, but Keegan Farnaus walked and stole second. Jose Grenados singled to right, but a perfect throw to the plate by Goddard caught Farnaus trying to score to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Minooka got a one-out walk by Lennington, a single by Goddard and a walk to Muhich to load the bases. A walk to pinch-hitter Mario Jiminez forced in Lennington with the tying run, but a pop to short and a fly to left got the Hilltoppers out of the inning without further damage.
“Our kids played great from top to bottom,” JCA coach Jared Voss said. “To win this tournament two years in a row is quite an accomplishment. We ran the bases well, we put the ball in play and we played good defense.
“Rocco has great stuff, but he’s a young pitcher and he struggled with his control. But, Owen Wiers, Frank Curbis and John Baltz came in and did a great job competing. They threw strikes and didn’t beat themselves. Our guys in the middle of the order - Pomatto, Troyner and Beitler - are very consistent. The top and bottom of the order are kind of interchangeable, but those three in the middle are a threat any time they are up.”