Minooka beats clock, LW Central

Rather than risk giving something away through a sign, Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic walked down the third base line and whispered into Brian Papp's ear.

"He said, 'Look to bunt and don't strike out because the tie-breaker is the most strikeouts,'" Papp said after he reached on a bunt single and scored the winning run in Minooka's 3-2 nine-inning victory over Lincoln-Way Central in a first-round game in the WJOL Area Baseball Invite on Friday afternoon.

Central led 1-0 and 2-1 and twice was in a position to prevail on a tie-breaker. The game, moved from Plainfield South to Minooka because the Cougars' sophomore field was unplayable, came within 30 seconds of being called a 2-2 deadlock after eight innings.

After Kyle Joerger's flyout, Minooka (4-1) hustled out to the field to play defense in the ninth at the 1-hour, 59- minute and 30-second mark, just beating the 2-hour tournament time limit.

Senior right-hander Bryan Barnes retired the first two Central hitters before yielding a two-out double to the Knights' Rick Jordan. Pinch-hitter Tim Gindville drew a walk before Barnes wriggled out of a potential jam. He retired Tom Helwich on a grounder to first and went on to pick up the victory with one scoreless inning in relief.

Papp, after conferring briefly with Petrovic, took a first-pitch ball from Knights reliever Aric Marquardt leading off in the bottom of the ninth. Then, Papp dropped a bunt down in front of home plate.

Marquardt raced in to field the ball, skidded on the slick grass and lost his footing. He tried to throw from the seat of his pants. But his throw was high and Papp already was at first base. He scored moments later after on a bases-loaded walk to David Haldeman.

After Papp's bunt, Marquardt went walk-flyout, walk-strikeout and walk, the game ending in a bit of high drama because Marquardt's strikeout of Justin Troyner put Central (2-2) in control of the tie-breaker for the second time with a 7-6 edge in strikeouts.

"No, it was not a good pitch to bunt, I'm not going to lie," Papp said. "It was high and away. But I just stuck my bat out there because I had already committed. There was no way I could pull back, so I just poked the ball out there and then I got on the basepaths.

"I was trying to hustle to prevent a good throw from happening. And it did."

The wild finish came after the two were locked in a classic pitcher's duel between young and old.

Minooka senior right-hander Tony Bucciferro allowed two runs on six hits over eight innings. He stuck out five and walked three, one of those intentionally. At one point in the middle innings, he retired 12 straight.

Marquardt snapped the string when he launched a 2-2 pitch over the fence in left-center to put Central on top 2-1. The Indians tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. Brian Martin reached on a two-out error and moved to second on Mac Simotes' bunt single.

Joerger followed with a two-out, two-strike single that tied the game.

Helwich, the Knights' sophomore starter, left after pitching six innings. He allowed two runs on six hits. He stuck out five, walked four and matched Bucciferro nearly pitch-for-pitch.

The Indians stranded 14 runners, nine in the last four innings, but advanced nonetheless. They'll face Joliet Catholic Academy in a semifinal game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Plainfield South. Lincoln-Way Central takes on Plainfield South at 12:30 p.m.

"Boy, it is just gut-wrenching leaving so many guys on base," Petrovic said. "We had so many chances to score runs today and just couldn't seem to get it done. Offensively, we're just in a little bit of a rut. Hopefully, we'll be busting loose.

"And, you know, they played very well, too. They put the ball in play all day off Tony [Bucciferro]. Both teams played hard. It really is strange when you realize you have these tie-breaker rules. You're trying to figure all this stuff out.

"But, in reality, nobody wants to win like that. We were fortunate -- we tied last year with Lockport and we ended up taking the game on strikeouts. You hate to do that. They were on the better end of the strikeouts. We were on the better end of the walks.

"It was bizarre to be thinking about that stuff. As a coach, you've got enough stuff to think about."

Jordan had two hits and scored a run to pace the Knights.

Central coach Marty Dykas said Helwich looked forward to the opportunity of pitching against Bucciferro, a Michigan State recruit.

"Sure, Tommy's going to be a kid you're going to hear a lot about the next couple of years in our area," Dykas said. "He's got composure and poise and doesn't back down. He came up last year as a freshman and stepped right in and did a lot of things.

"There are not many kids, from a mental standpoint, that could do that. He has that capability."