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Lefty pitches Lockport over Bolingbrook
Updated: April 29, 2011 12:47PM
LOCKPORT — The rain kept falling, the mud grew squishy and the wind guaranteed a chill during Lockport’s 8-4 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over Bolingbrook at Ed Flink Field.
But Porters senior left-hander Mike Hamilton hardly noticed the elements.
“I’m so into the game that I don’t think about those things,” he said Thursday after tossing a complete-game six-hitter, complete with 13 strikeouts and one walk.
His sin, perhaps, was losing focus in the sixth inning, when Bolingbrook (9-5, 2-1) scored four runs to chop an 8-0 deficit in half. That came after a bottom of the fifth inning when the Porters (11-7, 5-1) scored six times to break open Hamilton’s tight duel with Bolingbrook sophomore right-hander Brad Elmore.
“That was a long time between innings,” Hamilton said. “I was thinking, ‘Don’t lose your focus, don’t lose your focus.’ But I think I did a little bit. Sometimes it’s hard to do what you tell yourself.”
Hamilton had faced two batters over the minimum through five innings. But in the sixth, Justin Kovalsky and Richard Sandeen each picked up his second hit, and with two outs, cleanup man Andrew Nordbye, a left-handed hitter, drew the only walk Hamilton allowed on a 3-2 pitch.
Ryan Sulzen then belted a booming three-run double to left-center and Chandler Piekarski hit the right-center field gap with an RBI double.
Bolingbrook suddenly was within 8-4. But if Hamilton was shaken, it didn’t last. He struck out the last four batters — the final out in the sixth and three straight in the seventh to end it.
“He (Hamilton) got behind hitters that one inning and they took advantage,” Lockport coach Andy Satunas said. “Otherwise, he did what he needed to do.
“He’s our No. 1 starter, and now Garret Kooi is stepping up to No. 2. Some juniors will get work in the next week or so. It’s good to get things rolling in the right direction.”
Austin Mastella ripped the first pitch of the bottom of the second, a fastball, over the left-field fence for a 1-0 Lockport lead. Matt Skrzypiec doubled home a run in the third and lofted a two-run homer over the right-field fence to jump-start the six-run fifth.
“That was a big home run Austin hit,” Satunas said. “We told him to be aggressive early in the count, and he got a fastball. Then Matt took a curve to the opposite field for his home run.”
Lockport ran into a few outs on the bases in the early going. “We looked like the mud,” Satunas said. “We made some bad decisions.”
But in the Porters’ six-run splash in the fifth, Bolingbrook’s defense sprung leaks.
“We had some issues holding and catching the ball,” said Raiders coach Chris Malinoski, whose team had not played since last Friday. “We hurt ourselves not making a couple of the routine plays.”
About his hitters striking out 13 times, Malinoski said, “They (Porters) hit the pitches they got to hit and we didn’t. We didn’t take advantage of the fastball.”
Lockport will entertain Marist at 7 tonight in a Youth Baseball Night game. Area youth baseball programs will be recognized and the night also will serve as a fundraiser for Easton Fangerow, whose brother Evan Martens plays for the sophomore Porters.
Easton, 3, has a rare genetic disorder, metachromatic leukodystrophy, which is both incurable and untreatable. During the game the Porters will raffle White Sox tickets, a Porter baseball spirit wear basket and sell ice cream, with all proceeds going to Easton’s charity.
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