Koen Lynes got the Joliet Catholic baseball team off to a good start in its nonconference game against Wilmington on Tuesday.

So with that in mind, he figured he may as well finish things off as well.

Lynes swatted a two-run homer in the first inning, then added a solo homer in the seventh to help cap an 8-4 win for the Hilltoppers, who have won 14 of their last 16 games after an uncharacteristic tough start to the season.

“It’s really just dedication. I was out last night, late, hitting with the boys, and I think it is just paying off,” Lynes said. “Just a lot of hard work for us. We’re scrappy, and I feel like we are moving pretty well right now.”

The Hilltoppers (16-14) started with an infield single from Cody Burch to lead off the game before Lynes planted a ball off the netting above the left field fence for a two-run homer.

Joliet Catholic’s 2-0 lead was cut in half courtesy of a Ryan Kettman double that led to a sacrifice fly from Zach Ohlund, but the Hilltoppers would stretch the lead again in their half of the third by doing a little bit of everything.

A walk and three hits, including run-scoring hits from Johnny Curbis and Steve Martin, who was in the midst of a four-hit day, typified how the Hilltoppers have been engineering offense as of late.

“Since we’ve been in this stretch the last few weeks, that’s kind of what’s been going on,” Joliet Catholic coach Jared Voss said. “A lot of different guys, different guys in the order coming up and being aggressive and doing those kinds of things.”

Wilmington (20-6-1) wouldn’t go quietly, however. The Wildcats put together easily their most productive inning in its half of the third, collecting five of their seven hits in the contest.

Caius Brown started it off with a leadoff double, while Kettman drove him in with an RBI single, Declan Moran connected for an RBI double, and Brysen Meents infield single would drive in the tying run.

But Joliet Catholic would go back to scratching and clawing for its offense in the fourth, eventually getting a sacrifice fly from Burch to take back the lead.

Wilmington’s hopes of getting back into the game were stymied by JCA reliever Barrett Diaz from there on out. Diaz allowed a walk and a hit over the final three innings, making sure that Lynes’ second homer and Martin’s RBI triple in the seventh were only insurance runs in the Hilltoppers’ win.

“As the season is going on, he’s gotten better and better,” Voss said of Barrett. “You know he’s kind of been our No. 1 guy out of the bullpen. It’s not like he doesn’t throw 90 mph, but he thinks he does. He just competes.”

Joliet Catholic opens the postseason next week in its own regional as the No. 2 seed, and after its recent play looks like a dangerous team to face right now.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to know that in a single elimination tournament anything can happen,” Voss said. “You have to literally take it one game at a time and go from there. I think we’re starting to get comfortable in our roles.”

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