Hammers tie, win in exhibition play

ROCKFORD -- The Joliet JackHammers opened the exhibition season against the Rockford RiverHawks on Thursday with a 3-3 tie and a 7-3 win.

Joliet, which used 10 pitchers over the two games, continues the exhibition schedule this afternoon in Crestwood against the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Frontier League.

The RiverHawks scored the first three runs of the exhibition season in the third inning against Joliet starter Aaron Trolia. The JackHammers tied the game in the seventh thanks to the three-run home run by shortstop Dorian Rojas. Designated hitter Pat O'Sullivan walked and went to second base on an infield single by third baseman Wally Backman Jr. Rojas pulled a pitch over the left field wall to tie it 3-3.

The clubs decided to end the game in a tie after the seven scheduled innings were played.

Trolia pitched three innings and allowed three runs on two hits while walking none and striking out five. Mike Collachio, Kevin Altman, Tyler Meigs and Drew Shetrone each pitched one scoreless inning.

In Game 2, the JackHammers pushed across three runs in the second inning. Left fielder Doc Brooks worked a one-out walk, went to second base on a wild pitch and stole third. O'Sullivan and Patrick Arlis walked to load the bases. Eric Scriven reached on a fielder's choice and Brooks scored for a 1-0 lead. Cory Harris (1-3) followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0.

Rockford scored three runs in the second inning against JackHammers starter David Moraga to tie the game 3-3. But Joliet took the lead for good in the sixth. Arlis walked and went to second when Johnny Washington reached on an error. Steve Garrabrants' pinch-hit RBI single scored Arlis to give the JackHammers a 4-3 lead.

Joe Hooft reached base on an error, which scored Washington and gave the JackHammers a 5-3 lead.

The JackHammers later pushed across another run when Freddy Thon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and they added an insurance run in the seventh.

Moraga allowed three runs over three innings. Dustin Taylor, Lance Odom, Sean O'Leary and Mark Alexander all pitched one inning.

"I was pleased with our relief pitching," Joliet manager Wally Backman said.

Trizzino in Hall of Fame -- Scott Trizzino, a 1976 graduate of Joliet Central High School, recently was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame. Trizzino was a four-time letter winner at Central and went undefeated in his junior and senior seasons en route to becoming the school's first two-time state champion.

Trizzino's 117-7-4 career high school record earned him a full scholarship to the University of Iowa. There Trizzino again was a four-year letter winner and three-time All-American. As a Hawkeye, he earned two Big Ten championships, the first at a 142 pounds in 1979 and the second at 150 pounds in 1981.

Trizzino served as an assistant coach at Iowa before competing internationally.

Currently, Trizzino lives in St. Charles where he is wrestling head coach at St. Charles North High School. He has a wife, Mary, and two sons, David and Michael.

Abel shines -- Middle Tennessee State University sophomore outfielder Corrie Abel, a Joliet Township graduate, was named Tennessee State softball MVP and was a second-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection. She hit .377. She also was the Sun Belt Player of the Week last week, when her first career grand slam home run powered Middle Tennessee State to an 8-4 victory over North Texas.

Matsui leads Heartland -- Plainfield South graduate Michael Matsui, a senior pitcher/second baseman on the Rose-Hulman baseball team, is 9-1 with a 1.89 ERA. The ERA leads the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Matsui has started 9 games and appeared in 12, allowing 56 hits in 62 innings. He has struck out 43 and is holding opponents to a .247 batting average.

At the plate, Matsui is 23-for-78, a .295 mark, with 2 home runs and 10 RBIs.

Lockport 2, Lincoln-Way Central 1 -- At Lockport, Bri Johnson scored the winning goal in penalty kicks for the Porters (11-6, 4-5) against the Knights (11-7-3, 6-3-0) in the SouthWest Suburban game. Lockport's Ashley Falkner also scored.

Lincoln-Way East 2, Illiana Christian 0 -- At Frankfort, Niki Elam and Kaci Jazo scored for the Griffins (9-11-3). Ali Breakey made 5 saves.

Benet Academy 4, JCA 2 -- At Lisle, Colleen Budd and Mallory Zampa scored for the Angels (11-7-1, 6-3-1) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference loss. Andrea Veldhuizen had an assist. Freshman Katie Ibarra made 3 saves.

Wilmington 2, Reed-Custer 0 -- At the sectional, Randi Kelsey made 26 saves for the Comets (2-13-1) in the first-round loss.

Minooka 25-25, Plainfield Central 15-21 -- At Minooka, Robert Krumlinde finished with 10 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs and 3 aces for the Indians in the Southwest Prairie Conference match. Dominic Filardi had 16 assists and Matt Phillips had 5 kills, 7 digs and 4 blocks. Scott Cook produced 6 digs.

Plainfield South 25-25, Oswego East 22-13 -- At Joliet, Andrew Polykandriotis had 8 kills and Dan Sheets-Poling registered 6 kills for the Cougars in the Southwest Prairie Conference win. DAvid Miller added 5 kills and 2 aces.

Lincoln-Way Central 25-25, Homewood-Flossmoor 13-16 -- At Flossmoor, Corey Bingham had 10 kills and Brian Thorp 4 for the Knights (26-8). Bill Pochron and Dan Sanders finished with 3 kills. Ryan Warning had 4 blocks and Connor Wexter had 8 assists.

Other scores -- Richards 25-25, Lemont 13-23.