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36 | May 3, 2018 | The Homer Horizon sports homerhorizon.com Softball Lockport offense earning high marks this season Productive lineup has led Porters to 16-3 mark Randy Whalen Freelance Reporter The midseason report is in for the Lockport Township softball team. Once again, the Porters are scoring runs in bunches and chugging toward their 11th straight season of 20-plus victories. Through Thursday, April 26, the Porters were 16-3 overall and 4-1 in the Blue Division of the SouthWest Suburban Conference. They were scoring runs like crazy but giving up more runs than they would like. “Grade-wise, when we put it all together, I’d give us a B,” Lockport coach Marissa Chovanec said April 25, following her team’s 6-5 nonconference victory over Joliet West. “As long as we are doing two of the three things — hitting, fielding, pitching — we’re usually fine. We still have to work on a couple of things.” The same day, first baseman Tara McElligott gave her team higher marks. “I’d say we’re between an A-minus and a B-plus,” said McElligott, who is a fouryear varsity player. “There’s always things to improve on, like getting the lead early so we don’t have to score 11 runs in one inning.” That’s exactly what Lockport needed to do in its wildest game of this — and most any season — last week. That was a SWSC crossover game against visiting Bradley-Bourbonnais on April 24. The game started after 5 p.m. and ended shortly after sunset. When it was over, the Porters missed an extra point but still won the game by a score of 20-14. They got out of there with a win, thanks in large part to McElligott highlighting an 11-run bottom of the fifth inning with a grand slam. The smash to left center on a 1-2 pitch gave the Porters the lead for good at 12-11. “That one I knew was a home run off the bat,” said McElligott, who gave herself an 18th birthday present a day early. “It was my ninth of the year and third career varsity grand slam.” McElligott had two hits and five RBI. Also coming up big for Lockport in the game were seniors Taylor Shingler (3 hits, 4 RBI) and Gracie Voulgaris (3 hits, 2 RBI), along with juniors Julia Foster (3 hits, 2 RBI) and Payton Grcevic (4 runs, 3 hits, 2 RBI), who had multihit games for the Porters. Lockport trailed 6-1 entering the bottom of the fourth but tied it at 6-6 that inning. Bradley scored five runs in the top of the fifth, but the Porters put up 11 runs on seven hits, four walks and an error in the bottom half of the inning. Ahead 17-14, they had to tack on three more runs to feel comfortable going into the seventh. The next day brought a more conventional game, as host Lockport held off old rival Joliet West 6-5. Voulgaris (2 hits, 2 RBI) and junior Lauren Johnson (2 hits, RBI) had multi-hit games. The Porters pushed across three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-3 lead and held on after Joliet West (8-7-1), which defeated Lockport last year, got two runs back in the fifth. Senior Elly Hagen went the first five innings and got the win. Sophomore Gianna Bauer hurled the last two innings and only needed 10 pitches to retire the final six batters after giving up a leadoff single in the sixth. After going 1-for-3 against Joliet West on her actual birthday, McElligott continued her party on Thursday, April 26, in a 17- 4, five-inning victory against SWSC Blue foe Stagg in Palos Hills. She had a tworun homer to left in the first inning, a three-run home run to center to highlight a five-run second inning and a homer to begin the fourth inning, this one a line shot to center. That started a sevenrun uprising. McElligott would have come up again Taylor Shingler (left) and Taylor Herschbach celebrate a Lockport run April 23 during a win over Sandburg. Jeff Vorva/22nd Century Media later in the inning, but was pinch-hit for. She finished the game 3-for-3, all home runs, with six RBI. She now has 12 homers on the season. Seven years earlier, McElligott’s cousin, Lia Romeo, also clubbed three long balls in one game for the Porters, and she was on-hand with family, including Romeo’s brother’s fiancee, Victoria Dellorto, an assistant coach at Stagg, to witness McElligott matching her impressive feat of slugging. Shingler (3 hits, 2 runs), Grcevic (2 hits, 2 RBI), Johnson (2 hits, run, RBI) and senior Courtney Schoolcraft (2 hits, 2 runs) all added multi-hit games for LTHS. Lockport opened the week on April 23 with an 11-5 SWSC Blue victory over visiting Sandburg. This Week In... Porters Varsity Athletics Baseball ■May ■ 3 host Bradley, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 4 at Edwardsville Tiger Classic, 7 p.m. ■May ■ 5 at Edwardsville Tiger Classic, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. ■May ■ 7 host Sandburg, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 9 at Sandburg, 4:30 p.m. Softball ■May ■ 3 host Downers Grove North, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 5 at Rantoul Triangular, 10 a.m. and noon ■May ■ 7 at Lincoln-Way East, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 8 at Lincoln-Way Central, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 9 at Homewood- Flossmoor, 4:30 p.m. Girls Soccer ■May ■ 3 at Lincoln-Way East, 6:30 p.m. ■May ■ 4 host Kankakee (Senior Night), 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 8 at Thornwood, 6:30 p.m. Girls Track and Field ■May ■ 3 at SWSC Championships, 4:30 p.m. at Homewood-Flossmoor Boys Track and Field ■May ■ 4, host Lockport Invitational, 5 p.m. Boys Volleyball ■May ■ 3 at Sandburg, 5:30 p.m. ■May ■ 8 host Stagg, 5:30 p.m. Boys Tennis ■May ■ 3 at Stagg, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 5 host Lockport Invitational, 8 a.m. ■May ■ 8 host Neuqua Valley, 4:30 p.m. Boys Water Polo ■May ■ 3 host Homewood- Flossmoor, 5 p.m. ■May ■ 5 at Conant Quad, 8 a.m. Girls Water Polo ■May ■ 3 at Homewood- Flossmoor, 5 p.m. Badminton ■May ■ 3 host Badminton Sectional, 3:30 p.m. Celtics Varsity Athletics Baseball ■May ■ 4 at Minooka, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 5 host St. Francis- Wheaton, 11 a.m. ■May ■ 7 at St. Francis- Wheaton, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 8 at Loyola Academy, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 10 host Loyola Academy, 4:30 p.m. Softball ■May ■ 3 host Illinois Lutheran, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 7 host Plainfield North, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 8 host Andrew, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 10 host Benet Academy, 4:30 p.m. Boys Track and Field ■May ■ 5 at Lisle Nalley Invitational, 9 a.m. Girls Track and Field ■May ■ 5 at GCAC Championships, 9 a.m. ■May ■ 7 at Black Diamond Classic, 4 p.m. Boys Tennis ■May ■ 3 hosts Mt. Carmel, 4 p.m. ■May ■ 5 at Lockport Invitational, 8 a.m. ■May ■ 7 at Lincoln-Way West, 4 p.m. ■May ■ 10 hosts Coal City, 4 p.m. Girls Soccer ■May ■ 8 hosts Nazareth Academy, 4:30 p.m. ■May ■ 10 hosts Andrew, 4:30 p.m. Boys Volleyball ■May ■ 3 hosts Lincoln-Way East, 6 p.m. ■May ■ 7 hosts Montini Catholic, 6 p.m. ■May ■ 10 hosts Loyola Academy, 6 p.m. Boys Lacrosse ■May ■ 3 at Marist, 6 p.m. ■May ■ 4 at Montini Catholic, 6:30 p.m. ■May ■ 8 hosts St. Rita, 7 p.m.
homerhorizon.com sports the Homer Horizon | May 3, 2018 | 37 Baseball Provi ace shuts down Porters 1-0 in New Lenox Former Homer Jr. High student fires five scoreless frames against LTHS Steve Millar Freelance Reporter Bryce Barnett started the job, and Ryan Manikowski finished it, as Providence turned in a dominant pitching performance April 25. Barnett, an Arizona State recruit and Lockport resident, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and allowed just one hit in five innings before Manikowski got the final six outs to secure the host Celtics’ 1-0 win over Lockport. “At the start of the game, I felt well,” Barnett said. “I just made my pitches when I had to. I just kept on throwing and let my defense do the job behind me.” Providence (11-7) got the only run it would need against the Porters (11-6) in the fourth inning, as Logan Anderson led off with a single, moved to second on Alex Helmin’s sacrifice bunt, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Brennan Geers’ RBI groundout. Lockport senior Tommy Louch was untouchable otherwise. He allowed just the one run on four hits in six innings, striking out five and walking four. “Hats off to their pitcher,” Providence coach Mark Smith said. “It would’ve been nice to get a two or three-run lead, but we knew it’d be a tough day with the wind blowing in. We found a way to get a run in at the right time.” Barnett and Manikowski made sure the one run would hold up. Barnett (3-1), a junior, struck out nine and walked just one in his five innings. The Lockport resident and Homer Jr. High graduate said he was especially fired up to face the Porters. “I live in Lockport, I went to school with all those guys when I was younger and I would’ve went to Lockport if I didn’t come here,” Barnett said. “That was on my mind all day today at school. I was definitely fired up to face them.” Barnett’s day ended with a bit of a scare. While warming up before the sixth inning, he felt a bit of tightness in his throwing arm and had to come out of the game. “I just got a knot in my forearm,” he said. “Nothing major.” Suddenly needing a relief pitcher, Smith turned to Manikowski, but the sophomore from New Lenox wasn’t in the dugout. “I was supposed to pitch [Thursday], so I wasn’t expecting to hear my name called,” Manikowski said. “I was up on the hill shagging foul balls, and then I had to come in and get ready to pitch. “I didn’t think were was any way I was going to pitch, but I just had to come in and stay calm and collected and get the job done. I’ve got a good defense backing me up all day, so I wasn’t nervous at all.” Manikowski got in a bit of a jam in the seventh, as an error and an infield hit by the Porters’ Ryan Moerman put runners on first and second with one out. Manikowski, though, got the next two hitters to fly out and then induced a ground out to end the game and record his first save. “He’s a quarterback in football, so we told him he’s got to get used to being in those pressure situations, because we might see him under center for the Celtics in the future,” Smith said. “He did a great job in a tough situation.” Dylan Gorski, Josh Mrozek and Steven Meyer each had one hit for Providence, along with Anderson’s single. The Celtics are still looking for a more consistent offense. “We’re still getting there,” Smith said. “The one thing I thought would be our strength this year, our hitting, hasn’t [been]. I think when the weather gets better, we’re going to start hitting. Our pitching has been really strong, and our defense has improved, so it’s just the hitting right now. We’ve got to keep plugging away.” After a 5-5 start, Providence has won six of its last eight games. Anderson (.265 average, 17 RBI) and senior catcher Nick Jones (.327, 17 RBI) have been the team’s top hitters. Helmin and Dakota Katowski have each hit three home runs. Barnett leads the pitching staff with his 3-1 record and 0.90 ERA, while Ben Vitas, Ethan Petric and Jake Miller each have two wins. “Ever since our win against Marian Catholic [on April 13], everything’s been coming together,” Barnett said. “Once we start getting some timely hitting, we’re going to be really good.” Lockport, meanwhile, will look to bounce back after suffering its fourth-straight loss, having run into a long line of top pitchers of late. “This was the third game in a row we faced a Division I pitcher,” Lockport coach Andy Satunas said. “I’m Lockport resident and Providence pitcher Bryce Barnett delivers a pitch to Lockport’s Jimmy Heintz April 25 during Providence’s 1-0 win over Lockport in New Lenox. Photos by Julie McMann/22nd Century Media very proud of the Porters and how we’ve stood toe-to-toe with these guys. We battled. We just need to execute a little better.” Satunas said Lockport looked to manufacture a run but knew Jones would be tough to run on. “I tip my cap to their catcher,” he said. “We know how quick he is to second, so we had to be selective with our running. We needed to get a bunt down when we had a chance, and we didn’t execute.” Moerman, Collin Woulfe and Nolan Weis had the Porters’ only hits, all singles. Louch, though, was certainly a bright spot. The senior dropped to 2-1 with the tough-luck loss but lowered his ERA to 1.02. “Tommy pounded the zone against a talented offense,” Satunas said. “He Providence’s Aaron Krockey, of Homer Glen, slides into second base in front of Josh Bentley during the game. pitched the way he needs to pitch to be successful. He was able to throw his curveball for strikes and spot his fastball, and he gave their hitters a lot to think about.” Satunas expects facing the tough pitching the Porters have seen lately will make them better in the long run. “We love being a part of this area and playing this competition,” he said. “It does nothing but make you better. By the end of the season, you’re going to be battle-tested, and there’s going to be nothing a team can throw at you that you haven’t seen.”
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