Joliet Catholic, Carmel settle for split

Updated: April 25, 2011 6:22AM

The doubleheader split Sunday afternoon between longtime East Suburban Catholic powers Carmel and Joliet Catholic showed that although inexperience is a factor for both teams this year, they may still be forces to be reckoned with in the league.

Joliet Catholic and defending champion Carmel showed enough offense and pitching, albeit with some miscues, to make their presence felt along with early-season favorite Nazareth in the ESCC.

"We're going to be right there,'' said Joliet Catholic pitcher Kevin Duchene, who struck out 15 in the Hilltoppers' 9-3 victory in the opener at Gillespie Field. "They're the defending champs. We came out and stuck it to them pretty well the first game."

Carmel rebounded in the second game, taking a 4-1 lead and holding on for an 8-7 victory despite wildness on the mound.

"The last thing you want to do is get swept and Joliet is good at sweeping teams here,'' Carmel coach Joe May said. "We told the kids after the first game, that game is behind us. The day is a successful day if we end up with a split.''

It was the beginning of the conference season for both teams. Joliet Catholic had a great start in the opener with a three-run first inning highlighted by an RBI triple from Chris Tschida, (3-for-3, 2 triples, double, 3 runs, 2 RBI).

Duchene yielded a two-run single to Tommy Ryan in the second inning, but he fanned four of the first six batters he faced and struck out the side in the last two innings.

"I felt like I had command of all three pitches and I was working both sides of the plate,'' Duchene said. "Then again, it makes pitching real easy when you score three runs in the first inning.''

"He did a nice job,'' Joliet Catholic coach Jared Voss said. "He threw a few too many pitches but he looked good.''

Joliet Catholic (8-6, 1-1) extended its 4-3 lead with a five-run fourth inning that included a solo homer by Cody Columbus. Nate Searing, Alex Voitik and Ryan Peter each finished with two hits.

Chris Blatti started the second game instead of Kyle Cunningham, who suffered a minor knee injury in the opener. "We kind of had an emergency starter,'' Voss said.

Carmel (6-5, 1-1), which graduated 15 players from last year's 27-9 team, led 4-1 in the third after a two-run homer by Tim Hendricks.

"He's a pretty steely guy,'' May said of Hendricks, the loser in Game 1. "He's gritty. It's not easy to pitch a game and then go out and play left field.''

Joliet Catholic took advantage of three successive batters being hit by a pitch and a walk to score twice in the fourth and get within 4-3. The Hilltoppers benefited from a walk in the fifth, an error in the sixth and some low pitches to make it 5-5 before Carmel scored three runs in the sixth.

"We should have won it going away,'' May said. "You're never going to get away from Joliet Catholic with an easy victory.''

Tschida hit a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh off reliever Adam Warkenthein, who theninduced a groundout to end the day.

"It was pretty huge for us to get a split,'' Hendricks said.

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