With Joliet West playing high-scoring blowouts to start the year and Wilmington in low-scoring duels, something was bound to give Monday.

The only thing that gave, as it turned out, was the sunlight.

The result was nearly down the middle, as the two teams played to a 5-5 tie after seven innings and the game was called due to darkness. It was the highest scoring game of the year for the Tigers (2-1-1) and the lowest for the Wildcats (2-0-1).

Wilmington held the advantage early, scoring an unearned run in the top of the first when Dierks Geiss, who doubled with one out, came around to score on a throwing error. The Wildcats had runners on second and third, but West pitcher Jacob Prosise got out of the jam with a strikeout.

The Wildcats put two more runs across in the top of the third. Ryan Kettman led off with an infield single, then went to third on an errant pickoff throw and came around to score on an RBI single by Zach Ohlund. After courtesy runner Nash Rink went to second on a balk, Cooper Holman singled to center to bring Rink in to score for a 3-0 lead. Wilmington added its fourth run in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Holman

Holman started on the mound for Wilmington, and the Bradley University recruit was nearly perfect early. He faced 10 batters through the first three innings before the Tigers had better at-bats the second time around.

Daniel Lukancic doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and Brayden Myers followed with a walk. A wild pitch sent the runners to second and third and, after a strikeout, Keegan Schwarting singled to left to score both runners and close the gap to 4-2.

“We had a couple of real good games defensively over the weekend,” Joliet West coach John Karczewski said. “Today, we threw it around a little bit and gave them a couple of runs. Our bats are a little behind right now, and we knew that Holman has a real good arm.

“Our guys kept battling and were able to take the lead, but then we gave it back late. Wilmington is a very good team and we saw their two best pitchers [Holman and Kettman]. Being able to come back against two good pitchers like that is a good sign.”

Sean Hogan came on in relief in the fifth inning and held Wilmington scoreless in the fifth and sixth. He was also instrumental in the Tigers’ three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth that gave them the lead. Bobby Malinowski led off the inning with a walk and was bunted to second by Isaac Harris. Michael Murphy reached on a throwing error that allowed Malinowski to score before a popout to first. Myers then dropped a bloop double down the third-base line that fell between three Wildcat defenders and scored Murphy to tie the game. Hogan then launched a pitch deep to left that nearly went out of the park, but hit the fence and scored Myers for a 5-4 Tigers lead.

“I knew I hit that ball well, but I didn’t know if it was going to go out or not,” Hogan said. “We knew their pitcher is good and going to Bradley, but we still need to do a better job of hitting early.

“We have a really good defense. When I am pitching, I trust my infield and outfield. I know they are going to make the plays, so I don’t have to try to strike everybody out. I can just throw strikes and let my defense work.”

Wilmington was able to tie it in the top of the seventh. With one out, Brysen Meents reached on an error, then stole second and scored on a single through the middle by Bobby Phillips. Phillips stole second and Rink was hit by a pitch, but Hogan got out of the inning with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout.

“I am really proud of the way our kids battled all the way through,” Wilmington coach Mike Bushnell said. “We took the lead early, then fell behind, but we battled and got a run in the seventh to tie it.

“Cooper Holman came ready to play today. He was very good. Ryan Kettman threw well, too. He made a good pitch and their kid just placed it perfectly, just out of reach of our guys. We like to play bigger teams early in the season. We have high expectations, and playing teams like this gives us an idea where we need to improve.”