Weekend tourney a tossup

Minooka High School baseball coach Jeff Petrovic stopped to talk for a few minutes following Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Joliet Township.

Among our topics were this weekend's WJOL Area Baseball Invite and the strength of the Joliet area that will be on display in the third annual early season extravaganza.

"I think maybe last year we went through a lull, where the overall strength in the area was not as good as usual," Petrovic said. "But the way it looks so far, everybody has bounced back. When we get together, any of us can beat anybody on a given day. It's exciting."

That being the case, strap on your seat belt for this weekend's fun.

The tournament begins at 2 p.m. Friday at Plainfield South, with Providence Catholic and JT, the co-champs from a year ago, squaring off on Field 1 and Minooka facing Lincoln-Way Central on Field 2. Then at 4:30 p.m. Lockport battles Plainfield Central on Field 1, while Joliet Catholic Academy takes on Plainfield South on Field 2.

The championship bracket semifinals are set for 10 a.m. Saturday at South, with the consolation bracket semis at 12:30 p.m. The consolation bracket will stay at South the fifth-place and seventh-place games at 3.

Meanwhile, the championship bracket will move to Silver Cross Field for the third-place game at 4 and the title game at 6:15.

And, if you can't get enough baseball, how about this bonus? The reason the third-place game will not begin until 4 is that St. Francis is home Saturday for a doubleheader at Silver Cross Field against Ripon.

USF vs. Ripon. Gordie Gillespie coaching against his oldest son Bob.

But back to the high school tournament. Early returns indicate there will be tight games throughout. The fifth- or seventh-place games probably will match teams about as good as the title-game combatants.

Upsets will be scarce because, when you come down to it, what qualifies as an upset?

We at The Herald News attempt to rank area teams as the season is beginning, and we write features on the teams that finish in our top five. But by limiting ourselves to five teams, we are leaving out at least a few that are about as good as those that are ranked.

Which brings us to JT.

Based on a 3-1 start and with victories over JCA and Minooka and a one-run loss to Providence on their ledger, the Steelmen are primed to return to the title game. Of course, so is Providence, which is 4-0 and No. 1 in our poll. One of the two combatants will lose its tournament opener Friday and be relegated to the consolation bracket.

Oh, and in the event you are concerned with the weather, it appears we will be OK. Cold, for sure, but OK. The snow/rain showers are supposed to be out of here.

So bundle up and come on out.

e-mail: dgoss@scn1.com