JJC routs Harper

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JOLIET -- The site of Thursday's Region IV Division III Tournament opener between No. 1 seed Joliet Junior College and Harper College was switched.

The game was scheduled for Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, site of the six-team double-elimination tournament. But with the tough weather conditions, the game was switched to JJC's well-drained, well-manicured field.

In the end, it probably didn't matter where the game was played.

Using Ryan Jarka's solid pitching, errorless defense and timely hitting as a foundation, the Wolves played like one of the nation's top-ranked Division III teams. JJC posted a 10-0, 6-inning win over the Hawks.

"We're doing the things now that we should be doing," JJC coach Wayne King said. "The guys played well and kept mistakes to a minimum. Then the offense kicked in and we got going a bit. We got the win and now we move on."

The Wolves (42-11), who finished second at the 2007 Division III World Series and third in 2006, play Ohio's Clark College at 1 p.m. today at Waubonsee. Clark fell 4-3 to Waubonsee.

Weather permitting, the tournament concludes Sunday. The winner advances to the Division III World Series in Tyler, Tex., May 17-22.

Jarka (7-0) allowed 3 of his 4 hits in the first two innings. A 5-4-3 double play in the first got the former Minooka High School right-hander out of trouble.

Lowering his ERA to 1.93, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Jarka was in control most of the way. The freshman struck out 6, walked 1 and retired the final 8 batters he faced.

"Ryan started hitting his spots and was OK," said JJC catcher Casey Colbert, who had a bunt single and sacrifice bunt before ending the game with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. "His changeup helped set up the fastball. He threw strikes and pitched a good game."

Jarka is one of several freshman starting pitchers -- Joliet Township's Ryan Bethard (7-1) and Kevin Barnett (6-1) and Plainfield Central's Bryan Johnson (4-1) are the others -- to follow the lead of Wilmington's Dillon Roark (8-1), a sophomore right-hander.

"I found out at a Wednesday practice that I was going to start the tournament opener," Jarka said. "I wasn't nervous or anything. Casey and I work well together. I knew we'd score runs sooner or later."

Colbert's bunt single began a 2-run second. Tyler Thompson's line-drive triple to center field plated Colbert before Coal City's Brandon Howard's sacrfice fly brought home Thompson, who contributed a 2-run single in an 8-run sixth.

"I caught all of it," Thompson said of his well-hit triple over the Harper outfielder's head. "I just kept running and running."

The Wolves kept getting on base in the sixth to end the game. JJC sent 12 batters to the plate and collected 6 hits during the sixth-inning rally. Besides Thompson's 2-RBI hit, Lincoln-Way East's T.J. Stanfield, a left-handed hitter, clubbed a towering 2-run home run to right field, freshman first baseman Hector Belen had a 2-run single and Minooka's Ryan Voitik delivered an RBI single.

"It felt good to hit that homer," Stanfield said. "I got a fastball and was able to make good contact and turn on it. We had to remain patient at the plate. That's what we did."

Collecting 2 hits were Thompson, Howard, Belen and Stanfield. Every JJC starter scored at least 1 run.

"Ryan pitched a good game," King said. "We talked after the first inning and made a few corrections. We had some nice bunt hits, but that's part of our game. The guys will do that on their own a lot."