Cunningham the difference for Hillmen

Updated: April 13, 2011 3:34PM

Kyle Cunningham had pitched an extra-innings gem for Joliet Catholic. The senior hurler had nothing to show for it until he took matters into his own hands.

Cunningham doubled home two runs in the ninth inning to break a scoreless tie and lead the Hillmen to a 2-0 victory over host Minooka.

``I knew he was going to throw me a curve all the way,'' Cunningham said about his game winning hit. ``The first pitch was a curve and I wasn't ready for it. I moved up in the box and just sat on it.''

Cunningham (2-0) was facing T. J. Condon who was the fifth Minooka pitcher of the day. Condon had inherited two baserunners with nobody out and was on his way to working out of the jam. He induced a strikeout and pop-up to the first two hitters he saw before he faced Cunningham.

Cunningham, who is the third hitter in the lineup for Joliet (6-4), crushed the curve ball that landed at the base of the center field wall. The hit brought in Luke Swanson and Zach Malone. Swanson started off the inning with a double down the left field line and Malone was hit by a pitch.

``Kyle singlehandedly won the game for us at the plate and on the mound,'' Hillmen coach Jared Voss said. ``Swanson is one of three seniors on this team and that's what we expect out of him is the big hit.''

Cunningham pitched eight shutout innings before giving way to Nate Searing in the ninth. Searing picked up the save after striking out two hitters. Cunningham limited the Indians (8-4) to just four hits while striking out five and stranding eight base runners. He was pulled after his pitch count went over 100.

``I wanted to go out there for the last inning. My arm felt fine,'' Cunningham said. ``Once the pitch count got over 100, I knew I was out.''

Minooka received solid pitching from Josh Jimmenez, Trevor Machek, Josh Mitchell, Dakota Brown and Condon. The five combined to strike out nine while stranding eight runners. The Indians best threat came in the seventh inning when Joe Vallera went to third on a dropped third strike to Nick Fleischauer.

Cunningham left him there when he got Dan Fox to fly out to center field.

Alex Voitik and Cody Columbus both reached base three times for the Hillmen. Swanson was the only player with a multi-hit game reaching on a single along with his double.

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