Porters' Duplessis ends season in style

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A lot of high school pitchers are on a tight leash at this time of year for a variety of reasons.

With many of them throwing for travel teams as well, their prep coaches are wary of overworking an ace. And the coaches want to see as many arms as possible as they start putting together a rotation for 2009.

But there was no reason for Lockport coach Steve Stanicek to worry about Brandon Duplessis' pitch count on Tuesday evening.

That's because the senior right-hander's next start will be on roughly nine months' rest. Why? He's undergoing surgery Wednesday on the ACL and meniscus in his left knee.

"Yeah, I just wanted to get my last start, get a win, end the season on a good note," Duplessis said after beating visiting St. Laurence 11-1 in South Suburban Summer League North Division action.

Duplessis went the distance in the five-inning game, allowing nine hits and one walk while striking out three.

"We wanted to stretch him out to about five innings," Stanicek said. "You saw he kind of tired a little bit at the end. [But] he threw some really nice pitches. I thought his command was pretty good."

Endurance has been an issue for Duplessis lately simply because his knee injury prevented him from doing the same conditioning work as his teammates.

"Running was the biggest thing that helped me in the [preseason]," he said. "Early in the season, I could go deep in games and now I can't run ..."

But Duplessis on one healthy leg was plenty good enough to help the Porters improve to 12-1. They've won 12 straight since losing their summer opener to Sandburg and the reasons are several.

One is hitting and another is defense. Rich Estes (2-for-3, double, two runs), Joe Martin (2-for-3, double, two runs), Aaron Wiegmann (2-for-3, double, two runs) and Nick Daniels (2-for-2, double, run, RBI) all had big games on Tuesday for Lockport.

"I've been very pleased with this team this summer," Stanicek said. "Defensively we've played very well and we've been swinging the bats like that all summer."

Right fielder Conner Petschke set the tone defensively on the first play of the game when he slammed into the wooden fence in right-center to haul in a potential extra-base hit off the bat of St. Laurence's Josh Johnson (2-for-3). 

The Porters also threw a runner out at the plate to end the fourth inning, cut down another Viking trying to stretch a single into a double and turned a game-ending double play.

"I think we have a really good team this year," Duplessis said. "We have some juniors who are filling in at key spots [and] I think our senior class is very, very strong." 

And it could be even stronger once it adds a healthy Duplessis to the mix next spring. 

mclark@chicagosuntimes.com