Lockport takes WJOL behind MVP Duplessis

Lockport's Jon Cisna lays down a bunt against Joliet Catholic during the championship game of the WJOL tournament.
(Liz Wilkinson/Herald News)

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How Du you Du?

The kid they call "Du", senior right-hander Brandon Duplessis, slapped the exclamation point on a tournament that featured plenty of good pitching and tight games, as Lockport added its name to the list of champions in the WJOL Area Baseball Invite.

Duplessis (1-1) went the distance and became the winner when the Porters scored a run on a bases-loaded, two-out throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday night to beat Joliet Catholic Academy 2-1 in the title game at Silver Cross Field.

Oh, it was cold. Plenty cold. But the teams played errorless ball through six innings, and the Lockport-JCA rivalry never was hotter.

Duplessis was selected the tournament MVP after he allowed 4 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4. Yes, he was in multiple jams, but each time he escaped.

That same M.O. worked equally well for JCA starter Anthony Narducci, who left in the fourth inning when Lockport tied the game 1-1, and relievers Vinnie Hughes and Kevin Hulbert.

Hulbert entered in the bottom of the seventh with Lockport threatening.

Tyler Willis, who pitched the Porters' 5-0 victory over Providence Catholic in Saturday's semifinals, opened the rally with a sharp single to left off Hughes. Rich Estes laid down a perfect sacrifice, and Mike Frigo dropped a blooper on a checked swing into short right-center field, just out of reach of diving second baseman Nick Ratajczak, to leave runners on first and third.

Hulbert, a junior right-hander, was summoned and intentionally walked right-handed hitting Mike Aguilar even though left-handed hitting Steve Sabatino, probably the Porters' most dangerous stick, was waiting on deck. But in that situation, you want to set up a force at every base.

The strategy looked good for JCA (3-2) when Hulbert induced Sabatino to pop up to shortstop for the second out. But Matt Denton then hit a slow roller toward third base. Nate Minarich charged the ball and threw on the run, but low, and first baseman Brian Budzinski could not come up with the short hop.

Minarich picked up a tough error, and Lockport (5-1) had its first WJOL title after third- and fifth-place finishes the first two years.

"We took advantage of our opportunity at the end," Porters coach Steve Stanicek said. "Before that, we had a lot of missed opportunities. We had a lot of chances to take control of this game and could not get the big hit."

Not unlike what transpired from the JCA perspective.

"He (Duplessis) made good pitches and we couldn't get the big hit," said Hilltoppers coach Jared Voss, whose team had scored 13 runs against St. Rita, 12 against Plainfield South and 11 against Minooka in its previous three games. "It's still early in the season, and tonight we came up a little short on getting the big hit."

Voss said he was happy with the job all three of his pitchers did.

"That was Narducci's first time on the mound this year," he said. "He did a nice job, and so did the relievers.

"I was really happy with Kevin Hulbert. He got Sabatino on that popup and the next hitter (Denton) he hit on the fist. It didn't work out for us this time, but I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Nate (Minarich). He will make that play again down the road."

Both teams filled the bases with one out in the first inning and couldn't score. Minarich made a diving stop of Josh Stanton's shot to end the inning and deny Lockport at least a couple of runs.

JCA broke on top in the second when Tim Bennett beat out a bunt single, stole second and scored on Mike Nelson's single up the middle that second baseman Estes knocked down in short center but could not prevent the speedy Bennett from scoring.

Lockport threatened to get even in the bottom of the inning but was turned away when Ratajczak, ranging to his left, took a potential RBI single away from Estes.

The Porters did get even in the fourth, however. Stanton was credited with a double when his high popup fell between the mound and home plate, and Narducci walked the next three batters to force in a run to make it 1-1. Willis got the RBI.

Hughes entered and escaped trouble when Estes hit a roller to Minarich, who charged and threw home for the forceout. A double play was awarded when Lockport runner Tom Bedwell spilled Nelson, the JCA catcher, with a hard slide, and the Hilltoppers were out of the inning.

JCA threatened in the sixth, putting runners on first and third with one out. But Jon Cisna made a nice catch of a pop foul in front of the first-base dugout, and shortstop Frigo, the only player on either side with a multiple-hit night, leaped higher than he knew how to snare Dave Cladis' shot headed to left-center field.

"That was a huge catch," Stanicek said. "That was an athlete being an athlete. We have to make improvements offensively, but defensively, we played well the whole tournament and our pitching was outstanding."

The Hilltoppers got two runners on with two outs in the seventh, but Duplessis escaped, setting the stage for the Porters' decisive rally in the bottom of the inning. Both sides left 10 runners in all.

"This really helps me," said Duplessis, the losing pitcher Tuesday when Lockport fell to Brother Rice 14-2. "My confidence was a little shaky. I had to get Tuesday out of my mind.

"I threw strikes in certain situations when I had to tonight. I messed up not doing that against Rice. I pitched from behind a lot in that game."

"This was a phenomenal job by Duplessis," Stanicek said. "Him bouncing back like this after that Rice game looks good for us with our conference season coming up."