Baseball: Joliet Catholic routs Richmond-Burton for IHSA Class 2A state title

PEORIA — After trailing early in Saturday night’s Class 2A State Championship game against a pitcher that appeared to be finding his groove, it would have been perfectly understandable if a little worry might have settled in for the Joliet Catholic baseball team.

Even a little panic might have been an understandable emotion.

But the Hilltoppers simply don’t roll that way, catapulting themselves with a five-run fourth inning, a rally that started entirely with two outs to begin an onslaught of offense allowing them to capture a 12-3 win over Richmond-Burton for the school’s fourth state championship in baseball and first since 2013.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was six years old,” Joliet Catholic designated hitter Jackson Cullen said. “I knew I was coming to JCA and I knew I was going to win a state championship one day. It’s crazy and I can’t believe the day is here.”

[ Photos: Joliet Catholic vs. Richmond-Burton, Class 2A State Championship ]

There was very little to indicate that Joliet Catholic’s 13-hit attack was brewing. Richmond-Burton starter Kaden Neumann had limited the Hilltoppers to just three hits through the first three innings and even though the score was just 3-2 in Richmond-Burton’s favor it felt like the Rockets were in control.

“For the whole playoffs, we’ve been mostly getting ahead and playing a little bit with a lead,” Joliet Catholic coach Jared Voss said. “This was the first time somebody came out and really threw some punches at us early. And really before that inning, usually you see the coaches rally the kids, I saw Ryan Louthan pull everybody off the field and there were no coaches. He just said, “Hey, it’s time to go.”

And as it had done all postseason, Joliet Catholic (26-10) did its best work with two outs. And this time it was the bottom of the order that started things off as No. 8 and No. 9 hitters Brennan Luz and Tommy Kemp connected for clean singles in the fourth and RBI singles from Danny O’Brien and Aidan Voss suddenly gave Joliet Catholic a 4-3 lead.

“That’s just us. We’re out here and we’re fighting,” Luz said of Joliet Catholic’s uncanny knack of delivering productivity with two outs. “It’s grit. It’s toughness. I ended up getting a nice hit to get us started, but its not about me, its about us as a team. I love these guys.”

Then came the big blow, a three-run homer from Cullen, who has come up time and time again for the Hilltoppers in big spots.

“We’ve just done that all year,” Cullen said. “We never count ourselves out. One out, no outs, zero outs, whatever, we’re all just going up there swinging and looking for our pitch, and when we get it we don’t miss it.

“I could tell everyone was down a little at the start of the game, but it was our job as seniors to keep them in the game, and then we got up there and started getting big hits and that’s what we do.”

But Cullen did sheepishly admit he didn’t know for sure he’d actually cleared the fence with his blast.

“I had to ask the umpire at second base if it went over,” Cullen said with a laugh. “We’d already rallied with two outs, I didn’t want to end that rally. I missed the first pitch, but I got a good swing on it. And then he threw me a curveball and it was right in my sweet spot.”

It was the second consecutive day that the Hilltoppers broke open a game with a substantial two-out rally.

“Sometimes that’s just baseball,” Jared Voss said. “We were just fortunate to get some traffic out there with some guys on base and then we got those big hits and ended up putting up that big crooked number.”

And while the Rockets were finally able to halt the onslaught at five runs in the frame with a flyout, the Hilltoppers were far from done, tacking on four more runs in the bottom of the fifth with both Luz and Kemp once again serving as the catalysts. Luz provided a two-run triple while Kemp swatted an RBI double to push JCA’s lead to 11-3.

Things did get a little bit adventurous, though, for Joliet Catholic’s pitching staff. The Hilltopper staff had been incredible throughout the postseason, allowing just four runs during the six postseason games prior to the title game. But sophomore starter Jake Gimbel didn’t find smooth sailing to start even though he battled nicely before being relieved by Dom Coda in the fourth inning.

Coda then worked swiftly through the fifth before hitting a bit of a wall in the sixth inning, walking the bases full and causing the Hilltoppers to hand the ball over to Jake Spotofora.

Spotofora recorded a strikeout and coaxed a foul out to fundamentally squelch any realistic hopes that Richmond-Burton might have in mounting a comeback charge.

“At the back end, Spotty (Spotofora) with the bases loaded that was absolutely amazing that he came in a did that,” Jared Voss said. “He’s been waiting to get back out there and to see him go out there and take advantage of that opportunity was . I know we still had a big lead at that time, but we never let them get momentum back.”

Spotofora then set down the Rockets (32-6) in order in the seventh inning to secure the crown for the Hilltoppers.

Richmond-Burton’s two-run first inning was partly fueled by a strange play in the infield. Hayden Christensen and Kaden Neuman singled with one out. After a popout, Joseph Miller hit a ball at JCA third baseman Brennan Luz, who fielded the ball a split second ahead of the lead runner, Christensen. The bang-bang play was ruled fielder obstruction and allowed Miller to load the bases.

Ethan Schoeps then lined a two-out single to right to score Christensen and an errant throw from the outfielder allowed Neuman to score as well on the play.

Joliet Catholic, in part, answered that by using more two-out hitting in its half of the first. Cullen popped a triple and then scored on a Luka Radicevich single, but Richmond-Burton hurler Neuman was able to wiggle off the hook without further damage.

But the Hilltoppers were able to scratch within a run in the third with O’Brien reaching after being hit by a pitch and moving over to second on a straight hustle infield hit from Voss. A bunt from Cullen moved the runners up a base and then a sacrifice fly from Radicevich allowed Joliet Catholic to keep close contact and when the opportunity came later Joliet Catholic was in position to pounce.

“They played a solid baseball game,” Richmond-Burton coach Mike Giese said. “JCA hit it all over the park today and we couldn’t contain that. They were the better team today, they deserve it.”