JCA back on track, finishes third

Joliet Catholic Academy catcher Mike Nelson holds the team's Class 3A third-place trophy after a 7-0 win over Crystal Lake Central on Saturday at Silver Cross Field.
liz wilkinson allen/sTaff photographer

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JOLIET -- Senior third baseman Nate Minarich ignited the fifth-inning touchdown drive with a booming triple to left-center field and capped it with a run-scoring single.

Now that's more like it.

Less than 24 hours after suffering the disappointment of a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Rock Falls in the semifinals of the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament at Silver Cross Field, Joliet Catholic Academy rode the seven-run inning and the one-hit pitching of senior left-hander Steve Kazak to a 7-0 victory over Crystal Lake Central in the third-place game Saturday morning.

"Only a handful of teams in the state can say they won their last game, and we can," JCA coach Jared Voss said. "In my 10 years, this is the most wins we have had (33), and probably against the toughest schedule. I am extremely proud of these kids and to be part of JCA as a coach and teacher."

Kazak and his teammates were asked to answer the early bell -- a 9 a.m. start -- and it took awhile to shake off the cobwebs.

"It was the third-place game, and I was a little groggy at first," admitted Kazak, whose no-hit bid was spoiled by Robert Bellish's double with two outs in the fourth inning. "It was hard to get motivated because we were down a little after losing yesterday, but there was no way I was going to end this with a loss."

"I've been coaching Steve for three years," Voss said. "It started on that same mound with him beating Providence (when Kazak was a sophomore), and now it finished with this incredible performance today."

After JCA (33-7) had all sorts problems getting the ball in the air and taking advantage of a hitter-friendly gale Friday against Rock Falls left-hander Jarred Hippen, the Hilltoppers had no such difficulty Saturday, though runs still were missing for a while. Finally in the top of the fifth inning, they began finding gaps -- and in rapid succession.

Minarich tripled to deep left-center, a ball few high school fields would have held. Tim Bennett was hit by a pitch and Joe Cernugel, who later would single, drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

"The first few innings were rough," Minarich said of the 0-0 tie through four innings. "But each and every one of us knew this was our last game, and we just needed a spark and it got started."

"Again, there's the bottom of the order getting things going for us," said Voss, whose previous victory high in a season at JCA was 32. "They do that, and then they have to go through Rudy (John Ruettiger) and (Nick) Ratajczak (the deadly 2-3 hitters)."

Junior shortstop Dave Cladis, the leadoff man, knocked in the first run with a long sacrifice fly to left. Ruettiger, a 35th-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers who earlier smoked a double to the gap in left-center, hit into a fielder's choice, beating the double-play rap thanks to his wheels. Ratajczak then unloaded a bomb off the warning track in right-center field for a two-run double and 3-0 lead.

"Hitting is contagious," Ratajczak said. "We weren't going to let ourselves get down today. Once we got it going, we knew everyone was going to hit."

Junior designated hitter Steve Cservenyak belted a hard single to right to drive home Ratajczak and knock out Crystal Lake starter Connor Buxton. Senior catcher Mike Nelson, who had lined a single to left-center field in his first at-bat, pulled a run-scoring double down the right-field line to welcome reliever Eric Bremicker to the party. Bremicker's throwing error on Brian Budzinski's ground ball made it 6-0, and Minarch ripped an RBI single down the third-base line to add the extra point.

Touchdown, JCA.

"I guess it's kind of neat to get two hits in one inning here (at state)," Minarich said with a smile.

What a difference a day makes.

"The kid yesterday (Hippen) kept us off balance," Minarich said. "We feel we should have beaten him, but we couldn't find the bats against him."

"The loss yesterday was a terrible feeling," Ratajczak said. "He (Hippen) was good, but we have seen a lot of great pitching all season."

The seven-run lead allowed Voss to reach into his dugout and use six pinch-hitters over the final two innings.

Meanwhile, Kazak (8-2) remained in control even after the long top of the fifth inning. He finished with five strikeouts to go with four walks in a 103-pitch effort.

He struck out the side in the seventh, ending things in style.

Just then, the Hilltoppers' fight song rang loud and clear over the public address system.

"The last inning, it really hit me that this was the last time I would pitch in this uniform," Kazak said. "I knew I was getting the ball today regardless of which game we played, and there was no way I was going to end with a loss."

Not that he needed much help on this day, but when he did, the Hilltoppers, who committed no errors in the two state-tournament games, flashed the leather.

A bottom of the fourth inning that began with Budzinski's long stretch while barely keeping his toe on the bag to record an out at first ended when left fielder Bennett made a diving grab to prevent a run from scoring that would have snapped the scoreless deadlock.

Right fielder Cernugel made a diving catch to open the bottom of the sixth, an that inning finished with Cladis going deep in the hole at short to snare a ground ball and firing quickly to first, where Budzinski's nice scoop finished the deal.

"We knew there would be no letdown in this game," said Voss, who now has a third place to go with two seconds (in Class AA) on his resume. "We came here to win it all, so we did not meet our expectations. But our kids are not convinced they are not the best team.

"And the people who were here to see us this morning have been our biggest fans all season. It was great to see all the support all weekend. That made it pretty special."