Lockport edges out Joliet West in WJOL baseball quarterfinal

LOCKPORT – Sometimes the first inning can set the tone for an entire game.

But other times what happens in the first inning bears no resemblance to what happens the rest of the way.

The latter was what happened in Thursday afternoon’s WJOL Tournament quarterfinal game between Lockport and Joliet West.

The teams both struggled to execute offensively and defensively, and the wild first frame ended with seven runs combined crossing the plate, despite only three total hits.

Walks and errors fueled the run-scoring success on both sides. But almost immediately both teams put the clamps on things after that sloppy first inning, with Lockport hanging on for a 6-5 victory.

The win lifts Lockport (6-1) into the tournament’s semifinal round, where it will host Minooka – an 11-0 winner over Lincoln-Way Central in another quarterfinal contest – on Friday. Joliet West (2-6) and Lincoln-Way Central will play in a consolation-round contest, also on Friday.

“It was winning ugly,” Lockport coach Scott Malinowski said. “I guess it might have been a little expected, especially early in the season. We’re still trying to get our feet underneath us a little bit.”

It looked like Lockport had its feet firmly planted in the ground to start the game, as its first three batters all reached. Bryce Flood would walk and later come around to score on a wild pitch, while Joey DelPonte and Justin VanderTuuk also crossed courtesy of a sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Drew Satunas.

Satunas, who had two of Lockport’s four hits, would tack on Lockport’s fourth first-inning run, scoring on a passed ball.

“It was nice coming out and being able to hit right away,” Satunas said. “That pushed us forward a little bit.”

Joliet West almost took it all back, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on a pair of Lockport errors. The Tigers had only one hit in the frame, a Ryan Sobun RBI single.

But after the high-scoring first inning, the game switched gears quickly. Both teams tightened things defensively, and the run spigot was pretty much shut off.

Lockport did manage to strike again in its half of the third on a beautifully placed two-out squeeze bunt by Adam Kozak. An error on the play allowed not one, but two runs to score, and Lockport stretched its lead to 6-3.

It was the last time Lockport would do much of anything against Joliet West reliever Maddux Chiquito, who was fantastic in his five-plus innings of work.

Joliet West’s offense, however, ran into a wall of its own after its first-inning scoring outburst, threatening several times but unable to break through until the sixth inning. Daniel Lukancic’s infield hit scored a run, and Quintin Guardia’s double appeared to deliver a game-tying shot, but a baserunning mistake snuffed out that rally before the Tigers could equalize.

Lockport’s Austin Winge struck out the side in the seventh to squelch Joliet West’s last attempt at seizing the lead.

“I like how we just kept fighting and stayed in there and did enough to get it done,” Malikowski said.