No. 3 JCA rolls past No. 20 Plainfield South, into WJOL semifinals

April 5, 2014

By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

NEW LENOX - In a 10th Annual WJOL/Don Ladas Area Invitational quarterfinal, No. 3 Joliet Catholic Academy rolled past No. 20 Plainfield South, 9-2, at Providence. The Hilltoppers were led by Palm Beach Atlantic-bound RHP Kyle Polaski (2-0) and senior first baseman Aaron Markley. Polaski fired five shutout innings at the Cougars, allowing three hits and striking out eight.

“Our offense has been solid all year for us and we capitalize on the other team’s mistakes,” said Polaski, “I am confident with my defense which allows me to go out and throw strikes and pitch effectively.”

Markley had a pair of singles, a double and drove home four Hilltopper runs.
Joliet Catholic Academy (4-0) picked up a couple of unearned runs off of Plainfield South’s Ball State-bound LHP Trevor Henderson (0-1). In the top of the third inning, JCA picked up the only earned run Henderson would give up on an RBI groundout by Markley. Henderson would pitch four quality innings, allowing one earned run and just three hits with eight strikeouts.

The Hilltoppers went to work on the Cougar bullpen, scoring a pair in the fifth inning on a two-run bomb to right by junior second baseman Rylan Bannon and blowing open the game with a four spot in the sixth.

“I put a decent swing on the ball,” said Bannon. “The wind obviously helped. I am not a home run hitter so I raced to second base before realizing it was out. It was my first home run of my JCA career.”

Plainfield South (1-1) would pick up two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Purdue-recruit junior centerfielder Nick Dalesandro and junior Mike Quiram each had an RBI single for JCA.

“It was a cold day but I really saw the ball well today,” said Markley. “Ryan pitched great for us today and we scored nine runs. This is big tournament for us and we really want to win it. Lockport-JCA - it should be another great game with them tomorrow.”

Plainfield South was led junior DH Tyler Dickey and senior 1B Zach Hamaker, who both were 2-for-3 in the contest.

“We knew going in it was going to be all about Kyle,” said JCA head coach Jared Voss. ”Kyle is confident on the mound as a senior. He pitched a great game. We beat a good pitcher tonight and it was good to see our offense do so well.”

No. 3 Joliet Catholic at No.32 Lockport; No. 21 Minooka at No. 10 Providence. Both semifinal games Saturday at 11:30. WJOL/Don Ladas Area Invitational Tournament Director Scott Slocum could not be happier with tomorrow's super-semis.

No. 3 JCA rolls past No. 20 Plainfield South, into WJOL semifinals

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