Kaminska, Redhawks pass another test

Naperville Central's Pat Kaminska delivers a pitch against Lockport.
(Michael R. Schmidt/Herald News)

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To keep advancing in the Class 4A state tournament, Naperville Central was going to have to win a game like this. That meant beating a future Division I pitcher and protecting something less than a nine-run lead.

The margins were smaller on Thursday night, but the Redhawks still advanced to the sectional final with an efficient 6-2 victory over host Lockport.

Pat Kaminska threw a complete game to lead seventh-seeded Central (23-14) into Saturday morning's championship game against 16th-seeded Providence (21-15). The senior right-hander allowed just six hits while striking out nine.

Central put 33 runs up on the scoreboard during its two regional victories, but offense was at a premium against third-seeded Lockport (26-12). This was a matchup of the 2005 (Lockport) and 2006 (Central) Class AA state champions, before the IHSA broke schools into four classes. Only the Redhawks can still think about making it to the finals in Joliet.

"I'm just really happy to see us pull (out this) game," Kaminska said. "We ended up pulling it together in the end to get more runs but (after) these first two wins, (the) big thing was: Are we going to be able to hold somebody (in) a 2-2-type ballgame?

"I think everyone handled it really well."

Kaminska (6-2) could say that after middle innings that swung back and forth. Lockport's Jon Cisna, a lefty bound for Ball State, faced the minimum nine batters the first time through Central's lineup.

But in the fourth Matt Cmiel blasted a run-scoring triple to the gap in right-center and then scored on Marc Mantucca's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

"All year, (we) struggled (to) close out tight games," Cmiel said. "We all had a sense of urgency that we actually had to come out (here). We're finally in the playoffs. We're finally playing like we should."

Kaminska struck out five of the first 10 hitters he faced, but he gave those two runs right back. What looked like Central's best chance evaporated in the fifth when it loaded the bases. As three relievers warmed up in the bullpen, Cisna induced a groundball for the first out and came back to strike out Ben Lucas and Nick Linne, the No. 1 and No. 2 hitters in Central's lineup.

"(Cisna) had real good jump on his fastball. He threw his breaking ball for strikes. He was as good as I've seen those first few innings," Lockport coach Steve Stanicek said. "And that's the type of hitting team Naperville Central is. We knew, coming in, that they could swing the bat. ... They're incredibly hot right now."

The pivot point came in the sixth inning, after Kaminska escaped his own bases-loaded jam in the fifth.

"The bottom line is, we knew we had a chance with Pat throwing (and) he kept us in the game," Central coach Bill Seiple said. "We knew it was gonna be this type of game."

Mantucca and Bobby Czarnowski hit back-to-back singles to right. Kaminska then smashed a ball deep into the hole that shortstop Rick Guth knocked down but could not immediately locate in the outfield grass.

Pinch-runner Ryan Burton sprinted from second to score the go-ahead run. Anthony Lopez next bounced an RBI single into right that made it 4-2 and knocked Cisna out of the game.

The night before Neuqua Valley took a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning only to watch Providence Catholic storm back to score all four of its runs in an eventual 4-3 victory.

Kaminska shut the door by striking out the game's final three batters. And so a team that was hovering around the .500 mark not that long ago, one that didn't win a conference title, will play for a sectional championship. The Redhawks can hit.

"That's that we've done in the tournament," Seiple said. "Up and down the lineup, we've got guys that give us a chance and we're able to generate."