Heading into Tuesday’s game, Minooka‘s Rhett Harris did not have an RBI in the Indians’ young season.

He took care of that, and then some, Tuesday.

Harris belted a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning and added an RBI double in the fifth, driving in half of Minooka’s runs in a 10-0 nonconference win over neighborhood rival Morris.

While many players get over-excited and may chase pitches with the bases loaded, Harris let the first four pitches he saw go past and had a 2-2 count before finally putting a swing on a curve ball and launching it over the fence in left. That gave Minooka a 7-0 lead as the Indians had scored three the previous inning on a two-run homer by Landon Currie (2 for 3, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 runs) and a sacrifice fly by Howie Porath (1 for 2, RBI, run).

“I had been off to kind of a slow start,” Harris said. “I was trying to let the ball get a little deeper, and I hit it well my first two at-bats, but they didn’t fall.

“In a bases-loaded situation, you don’t want to hit it on the ground and have it be a double play, so I was waiting until I got a pitch I could get in the air and get a sac fly at the least. I hit it well, and it went out.”

Minooka (3-0) wasn’t done scoring yet, though. After Harris’ grand slam, Minooka loaded the bases again. Morris forced a runner out at home on a grounder to third for the second out of the inning before Jason Duy hit a two-run single to score both Evan Jenks, who had walked, and Porath, who had singled, for a 9-0 Indians lead.

Meanwhile, Indians starting pitcher Logan Mackin and reliever Joey Rutz were setting down Morris hitters with cool efficiency. Mackin allowed just one hit, a single by Bryce Lee, and struck out four in three innings. Morris (0-3) loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, but Mackin ended the inning with a strikeout. Rutz allowed a hit, a single by Cade Laudeman, and fanned four in two innings.

The Indians scored their final run in the top of the fifth when the right-handed hitting Harris drove a double over the right-fielder’s head to bring home Currie, who was hit by a pitch.

“This felt like the first time this year that we really played a complete game,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “We had shown flashes of different parts of the game in earlier games, but we put it all together today. We hit the ball harder today. Even a lot of outs were loud outs. I think just being outside and hitting against live pitching has helped.

“Logan Mackin threw the ball really well and got out of a tough jam with the bases loaded. That’s a nice, growing moment for him. The first two hitters in our lineup [Currie and Harris] each hit a home run, which was nice to see, and we hit the ball to all fields well today. The guys didn’t try to do too much and stayed with the plan.”

Morris, meanwhile, is trying to make up for the graduation of one of the most successful classes in program history, as only two starters – Lee and Landon Norris – return from last year’s squad that advanced to a Class 3A sectional championship game.

“This was a learning experience, but the whole season is going to be a learning experience,” Morris coach Todd Kein said. “There’s no way around that. We have a young team, but young shouldn’t be mistaken for incapable. Some of the new guys are still adjusting to the speed of the varsity game, and we have played three high-quality opponents [Chatham-Glenwood, Triad and Minooka]. Our youth and inexperience has shown up from time to time.

“One thing I will never question about these guys is their competitiveness and their willingness to learn and get better. Now, they have to go out and do it. The only way to do that is to get them on the field so they can get experience. Hopefully, we will continue to learn and get over the hump.”