By Mark Gregory
@Hear_The_Beard
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Halle Hollatz
With the IHSA state pairings being released last week, local teams see their road to the dream of a state title.
For Lockport, that road begins in Minooka.
The Porters are the No. 5 seed in their own sectional complex and open play Thursday, May 26 against No. 12 Crete-Monee, with the winner facing the winner of No. 4 Lincoln-Way East and No. 13 Minooka for the regional title. That game would be at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 28.
The road for the Porters this season has been an up and down one that has had runs of losing and winning.
“There was one week we dropped four in a row and in that week, we had Andrew who we lost in extra innings and Providence who hadn’t lost yet and Lincoln-Way East and Schaumburg,” said Lockport coach Marissa Chovanec. “It was a rough week and defensively, we weren’t very strong that week.”
After a bad stretch, the Porters went on a run that got the team on the right path and gave the team confidence.
“Then for two weeks, we played pretty solid and we have played very well defensively and performed well on the mound,” Chovanec said. “During that run, we had all three working – the pitching, defense and hitting – but we reminded them it’s a journey, not a sprint and we still have to improve on some things.”
In order to claim a sectional title, the Porters will have to play as they did during their good stretches, as they will most likely face a Lincoln-Way East team that has their number this season.
Lockport fell to the Griffins twice this season, both by one run, with the most recent coming May 9 in a 4-3 loss.
In that game, Justine Cielenski allowed only one hit and no earned runs, while walking one in 2 1/3 innings of work in relief of Bailey Delrose who started and lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, while walking one and striking out three.
The Porters did follow that up with a pair of 10-run rule wins, defeating Stagg 10-0 and Joliet Central 17-1.
Against Stagg, Emily Dybas was 2 –for-3 with a pair of RBI, while Delrose also drove in two on one hit. Cielenski earned the win striking out six in the five-inning game.
In the blowout of Joliet West, Halle Hollatz was 3-for-3 with three RBI.
Getting her going offensively heading into the playoffs could be key to the Porters, as she has been in a self-admitted slump.
“This season has not been my best offensively,” she said. “I just haven’t been hitting well this year.”
If Hollatz gets going and the rest of the Porters do what they have shown is possible, they believe they can make a run in the postseason.
“The first part of the season we didn’t do too well and we lost games we shouldn’t have that we lost ourselves with errors, but we went on a win streak and that was good,” Hollatz said. “I think we will do good in the postseason.”
Joliet West is the No. 8 seed on the Lockport Sectional and hosts the regional, where it will face No. 9 TF South May 25.
Joliet Central is the No. 15 seed and has a play-in game May 23 against Thornwood with the winner facing No. 2 Lincoln-Way North.
In Class 3A, Joliet Catholic Academy is the No. 6 seed in the Bishop McNamara Sectional.
The Angels will host the regional and open play May 23 against No. 6 Plano. The winner will play No. 3 McNamara.