Baseball: JCA, Schlageter cruise past Providence

NEW LENOX – The strength of T.J. Schlageter’s game is throwing strikes.

Entering Wednesday’s matchup with Providence Catholic, the Joliet Catholic Academy junior left-hander had struck out 36 batters and walked only five on the season.

So when his team gave him a two-run lead before he took the mound in JCA’s 10-7 victory, it was right in his wheelhouse.

“When I have a lead, I know I can just go out there and pound the strike zone,” Schlageter said after throwing five innings with six strikeouts and allowing four hits and two runs, only one of which was earned. “It’s just like playing catch.

“I try to change speeds, and everything was working tonight. I had really good movement on my fastball and changeup.”

The Hilltoppers took advantage of seven Providence errors and collected 10 hits, including three each by Jackson Cullen and Trey Swederski. JCA (17-8) scored twice in both the first and second innings and tacked on four more in the third.

In the first, Danny O’Brien led off with a walk and, an out later, was singled to third by Cullen. A walk to Luka Radicevich loaded the bases, and an infield single to third by Swiderski brought O’Brien home with the first run. Ryan Louthan (2 for 4, double, 2 RBIs) followed with an infield single that brought home Cullen for a 2-0 lead.

Providence (11-13-1) got a run back in the top of the third. Jackson Smith hit a one-out single, stole second, went to third on a grounder to short by Gavin Gomez and scored on an error on a ball hit by freshman Enzo Infalise to make it 2-1.

With two outs in the top of the second, Aidan Voss singled to right. Cullen followed with a single to center, and the throw hit Voss sliding into third and bounded out of play, allowing Voss to score and Cullen to reach third. Radicevich followed with an infield single to third to score Cullen.

JCA broke it open in the third. With one out, Michael Ascencio and Brennan Luz were hit by pitches, and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. A sacrifice fly by Vinnie Spotofora scored Ascencio. O’Brien followed with an infield single to second, but the throw to first was wild, allowing Luz to score. Voss followed with a double to right to score O’Brien, and a single to left by Cullen scored Voss for an 8-1 JCA lead.

“It was a tough day,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “[Starting pitcher] Tyler Young threw well, but we made seven errors. That caused him to throw about 15 more pitches an inning. We have to be better defensively. We keep working on it, and hopefully it will be better by the postseason.”

Reliever Aidan Duggan held JCA scoreless in the next two innings before the Hilltoppers added more. Radicevich led off the sixth with a single, and Swiderski followed suit. Louthan then doubled to right to score Radicevich. A wild pitch brought Swiderski home with the Hilltoppers’ final run.

Providence got a run in the third on an RBI single by Pierre Danet, then rallied in the seventh.

Pinch hitter Jacob Garcia led off the inning with a single and went to second on a wild throw. An out later, pinch hitter Alberto Moreno doubled in Garcia. John Serritella, another pinch hitter, followed with an infield single to short, putting runners on first and third. An error on a ball hit by Infalise loaded the bases, and pinch hitter Shaw Stukel singled to center to score Serritella and Gomez, who also had singled, to make it 10-6. A single to left by pinch hitter Colin O’Grady loaded the bases, bringing the tying run to the plate. Courtesy runner Ethan Litynski scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-7 before JCA’s Jake Soptofora struck out Garcia to end it.

“Our kids battled,” Smith said. “To be down by eight in the last inning and have the tying run at the plate shows we didn’t quit. But we can’t be digging ourselves those holes to begin with.”