The Lockport Porters just keep finding a way.

The Porters baseball team is currently 17-7, winning seven in a row and nine of their past 10 after an 8-6 start. Even the one loss came in extra innings by a score of 2-1 against St. Laurence.

Lockport has managed to get the job done more often than not, despite sometimes cutting it a little too close for comfort. They led Lincoln-Way Central 5-3 in the seventh inning last week (Tuesday) and allowed a runner to reach third base with no outs. And that was after falling behind twice. But they just kept finding ways out of those jams.

That’s been the Porters’ M.O. much of the season.

“We just need to focus on little baseball IQ things,” coach Scott Malinowski said after the LWC game. “Just learning situations and becoming smarter as a team. Obviously, we need to clean up a couple of things on the pitching and defensive side of the game.

“I thought we swung the bat well today with 10 hits, even with just five runs to show for it; that’s going to happen from time to time. The pitching and defense need to be consistent. Our motto here is that pitching and defense win championships, so we have to focus on getting more consistent with that.”

Tuesday’s game was a perfect example of strong pitching and defense, but also inconsistent. Starting pitcher A Winge walked two of his first three batters, and a pair of errors allowed two runs to score as a result. Winge rebounded, striking out eight and only giving up one hit in five innings.

For the defense, after a runner reached third base with no outs, third baseman Jack Schiek made a couple of magnificent throws to first to get the first two outs of the inning.

Malinowski was correct about the hitting. Adam Kozak (24 hits, 18 RBIs, five HR), Drew Satunas (23 hits, 14 RBIs), Kaden O’Leary (24 hits, nine doubles) and Schiek (22 hits, 16 RBIs) have been outstanding this year and plenty of others are hitting the ball well, too.

The pitching has had its highs with Anthony Farina striking out 35 batters, but also its lows as Farina has allowed 28 hits. Trace Shaaf has given up 21 hits, but just six earned runs. So the team will need to improve consistency in that area.

Knight and Day

Speaking of even and Lincoln-Way Central, that is exactly what they’ve been this year.

The Knights are 11-11 right now. The path to that record and what it means moving forward depends on whether someone is a glass-half-full or half-empty type.

On one hand, the Knights began the year 11-5 and won seven of eight, including five in a row. That shows the talent and that they’re capable of getting back there.

On the other hand, Lincoln-Way Central has lost six straight games, with two losses to Lincoln-Way East and two to Lockport during that stretch. A skid like that can be hard to break out of.

However, none of the six losses have been lopsided. They’ve competed with everyone, and the game against Lockport showed that the defense is more than capable of getting the job done. However, the team managed just three hits on the day, so consistency needs to be improved.

Still, there’s talent. Luke Tingley is hitting .443 with 14 RBIs, Des Gill has 21 hits with 12 RBIs and Conor McCabe has 21 hits and 10 RBIs. Nolan Bartkus has struck out 19 with just 11 hits allowed, and Alex Panos has 27 Ks and just seven earned runs. The Knights have the ability; it’s just about stringing everything together.

“We have to have the ability to put pressure on opposing pitchers,” coach Ryan Kutt said. “If we can chase in the third or the fourth instead of the fifth, we can challenge those guys in the back half of the game.”

Tigers, Tigers burning bright

After a dominant season two years ago, last year was somewhat of a rebuilding season for Joliet West. Last year’s growth is today’s dominance.

The Tigers are now 15-7-1 on the year. While they’ve lost two in a row to Lockport and Romeoville, that was on the heels of winning eight of nine, including five in a row.

Nine players have recorded double-digit hits on Joliet West, but the leader of the offense has been Daniel Lukancic, who has 25 hits and 22 runs to show for it. Keegan Schwarting is currently boasting a 0.55 ERA with 48 Ks, 19 hits allowed and only three earned runs.

The Tigers are fighting for the Southwest Prairie Conference title and are in a good position right now.

Mighty Minooka

Speaking of teams that maybe had lower expectations coming into the year, Minooka has again defied those odds.

The Indians lost CJ Deckinga to Michigan State and Brayden Zilis to Illinois State, but that hasn’t stopped them from having an 18-4 record. A lot of that has been done without Michigan State commit Zane Caves, who began the year recovering from a leg injury suffered during football season.

The Indians are riding a six-game winning streak at the moment and could keep getting better.