No, the Joliet Catholic baseball team didn’t win Wednesday. It lost in a Class 3A Washington Sectional semifinal to Dunlap 11-7.

Given how the game started and how close the Hilltoppers came, though, one couldn’t help but have the upmost respect for JCA’s near comeback effort. Nor can it be ignored how far the Hilltoppers came given how they started the season.

By many accounts, Joliet Catholic (21-15) wasn’t even supposed to be in the sectional. It entered the year already down one of its best players in Lucas Simulick, who was ruled out for the year due to a preseason injury.

The regular season was a bit of a roller coaster, too. Three wins to start the year were followed by six straight losses. The up-and-down pattern continued until the Hilltoppers were sitting at 9-13.

As JCA has done so many years in the past, though, it got hot. Entering Wednesday’s contest, the Hillmen had won 12 of their previous 13, including seven in a row. Often playing against 4A competition benefited Joliet Catholic.

“This is one of the best group of guys I’ve ever played with,” junior Derrick Pomatto said. “It was a great season. We started off slow, but really picked it up towards the end. ... It just didn’t go our way today.”

Wednesday couldn’t have started much worse for JCA. Simon Malcom led things off with a double before Ryder Rennette singled on the first pitch he saw. Brett Alkire only needed one pitch to triple and score both for Dunlap.

Alkire scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0 after Evan Wills had thrown just seven pitches. After a meeting on the mound, he settled down, getting a groundout, picking off a walked batter and ending the inning with a strikeout.

Wills was pulled in the second inning for Barrett Diaz. A Diaz wild pitch resulted in Truman Tyra scoring for the Eagles. Jake Weeks’ RBI single scored Eli Michanicou in the third to make it 5-0 Dunlap.

The Hilltoppers wouldn’t give up. Kael Lynes smacked a home run that also scored Cody Busch in the bottom of the third to cut it to 5-2 and put up an additional two hits before the inning concluded.

An Alkire single scored Landon Gray in the fourth to extend the lead to four for the Eagles, but JCA punched right back in the bottom of the same inning. Kael Lynes scored on a sacrifice fly by Koen Lynes before Pomatto’s RBI single sent John Curbis home to pull the Hilltoppers within 6-5.

In the bottom of the fifth, after trailing 3-0 seven pitches into the game, Joliet Catholic tied the game 6-6 when AJ Perez scored on a passed ball.

Unfortunately for JCA, the Eagles got back on track in the sixth. Michanicou’s RBI single scored Gray and Rennette before Michanicou later scored on a single by Isaac Babbs to make it 9-6.

Rennette’s sac fly in the seventh scored Weeks, and Alkire’s single to score Tyra the next at bat made it 11-6 Dunlap.

Even then, the Hilltoppers refused to give up. Kael Lynes’ single to score Colin Stuckwisch in the seventh cut it to 11-7 and loaded the bases for the Hilltoppers. A diving catch by Tyra in the outfield ended the second comeback attempt and JCA’s season.

Again, though, to have come back at all against the Eagles was something for the Hilltoppers to hang their hats on. That grit and willingness to play for one another is something the seniors will remember.

“It’s been amazing,” teary-eyed senior Kael Lyons said. “It’s been the best four years of my life. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to go out with man. I loved my four years here.”

Koen Lynes (three RBIS, HR), Pomatto (3 for 4, two RBIs) and Perez (2 for 2, one run) led the effort.

This is Joliet Catholic. As long as there is baseball in the state of Illinois, JCA will find a way to keep on being competitive. While the 2026 road ends, expect the Hilltoppers to contend for the sectional title once again in 2027.

“It’s only up from here,” Pomatto said. “We come with grit every single game and season. We’re only going to keep getting better.”