Baseball: Joliet West’s bats come out in force in rout of Joliet Central

The Tigers collected seven extra-base hits in a 15-5 win over the Steelmen

JOLIET – Monday was one of the first good days for baseball in recent memory. The sun was shining, and the wind at Joliet West’s diamond was blowing strongly out to left. A great day to be a hitter.

The Tigers proved that by banging out seven extra-base hits – five doubles and two home runs – in a 15-5 win over Southwest Prairie Conference and District 204 rival Joliet Central.

And it might have been a change in routine that prompted the outburst.

“We have been scoring a lot of runs lately but not getting a lot of hits,” West coach John Karczewski said. “We gave them the weekend off for prom, and funny things happen in baseball. We didn’t know what to expect with the weekend off, but we came out and hit the ball well today.”

The Tigers scored in four of their five at-bats, plating three in the bottom of the first, one in the second, nine in the third and two in the fifth. Angelo Spoto’s two-run homer in the fifth provided the winning margin after the Steelmen had rallied from a 13-0 deficit to make it 13-5.

Central (6-18, 2-9 SPC) loaded the bases in the top of the first but did not score. West (17-10, 7-2) took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Steelmen in the bottom of the first to move ahead early.

A pop-up by leadoff hitter Owen Young (2 for 2) got caught in the wind and fell in for a single, and he went to second on an errant pickoff throw. Joe Lukansic laid down a bunt, but that throw was wide at first, allowing courtesy runner Jarrett Delrose to score and Lukansic to get to second. James Love then doubled in Lukansic. Manny Rincon struck out, but the third strike was dropped and the throw to first hit Rincon in the back, allowing Love to reach third and Rincon to be safe at first. Jimmy Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Love.

“It’s hard to play with as many errors as we had early,” Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “Joliet West is a good offensive team, and we gave them way too many outs. [Starting pitcher] Gabe Dunne threw the ball well, but we didn’t help him out. And we didn’t get the big hits early with runners in scoring position.”

West got back-to-back doubles from Cael Karczewski and Young in the bottom of the second for another run before breaking the game open in the third.

The inning started with an error on a ball hit by Anderson. Spoto followed with a double to center that sent Anderson to third, and Preston Vowell hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Anderson. A single to right by Ryan Holloway scored Spoto, and a walk to Karczewski chased Dunne from the mound. Reliever Ryan Richards hit Young with a pitch to load the bases, and consecutive walks to Lukansic and Love each drove in a run. Rincon then cleared the bases with a double to left for an 11-0 Tigers lead, and Anderson followed with a two-run homer to put West up 13-0.

But Central didn’t give up. With one out in the top of the fourth, back-to-back doubles by Rafael Gutierrez and Rodney DeSilva (2 for 3, 3 RBIs) scored a run, and with two outs a double by Jay Zepeda (3 for 3, RBI) brought home DeSilva. An infield single to second by Robert Fitzpatrick moved Zepeda to third, and a wild pitch brought Zepeda home.

The Tigers went scoreless in the bottom of the fourth, and Central got a two-run double by DeSilva in the top of the fifth to pull to within 13-5.

West, however, got a leadoff walk from Matt Modzelewski in the bottom of the fifth, and Spoto followed with a home-run to left-center to invoke the 10-run rule.

“We hit up and down the lineup,” Karczewski said. “We were able to take advantage of some mistakes and squared up some balls real well. We just want to keep it going.

“Give credit to Central. Kevin runs a good program, and their kids never gave up.”

Fitzgerald was pleased to see the fight in his team, especially the offensive performances of sophomores Zepeda and DeSliva.

“We kept fighting and playing the game,” he said. “We just gave too many away early.

“Jay had a great day at the plate, and so did Rodney. They are both sophomores that have been up with us for a little while, and they are doing a good job.”

Have a Question about this article?