Hilltoppers bounce back with big wins

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After enduring an uncharacteristic losing season, Joliet Catholic has been out to prove that last year was a fluke.

The No. 16 Hilltoppers have made a strong case for themselves so far. On Friday, they knocked off No. 6 Prairie Ridge, 2-1, in a first-round game of the Flyers Classic at Prairie Ridge.

JCA (5-2), which also upended No. 2 St. Rita last week, rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth to hand Prairie Ridge (5-1) its first loss.

"We're coming into this season as underdogs after what happened last season," said senior left-hander John Ruettiger, who improved to 2-0 after pitching a four-hitter. "I knew my teammates would come through at the end."

Prairie Ridge ace T.J. Swank (1-1), who hadn't allowed a run all season, held JCA to one hit heading into the sixth.

Nick Ratajczak laced a two-out double to score Dave Cladis to tie the game at 1-1. Then junior Steve Cservenyak followed with an RBI double off the center-field wall to drive home the winning run. Swank allowed three hits and struck out six. I

n the seventh, Ruettiger rolled a double play against Nick Martini, who's one of the state's best hitters, in a first-and-third situation to end the game.

"We knew if we kept hacking up there we would eventually get to [Swank]," said Cservenyak.

Joliet Catholic will play either No. 3 St. Charles North or Lyons at 1 p.m. at Alexian Field in the semifinals Saturday. The other semifinal will be at Alexian at 4 p.m., followed by the third-place game at 7 p.m.

The championship game will be played at a later date, due to weather issues.