The game between Lockport and host Joliet Catholic on Friday featured something nobody involved had ever seen.
A tree was blown over by strong winds and fell onto the fence in left-center, with a large part of the tree hanging over the field for the remainder of the game.
But the biggest hit was something Lockport players and coaches have seen many times before: a home run by senior first baseman Victor Izquierdo. He hit 13 last season.
“He is the leader,” Lockport coach Scott Malinowski said. “There are high expectations with the year he had last year and some of the things he did in the offseason. He’s got a lot on his shoulders, but I’m confident he’s the kind of kid who can handle it. He’s a super-grounded kid and a great student.”
It was a special day for Izquierdo, whose two-run blast in the sixth inning put the Porters ahead for good in a 9-6 win over the Hilltoppers. The Navy recruit grew up near Joliet Catholic in Crest Hill and went to junior high at St. Raymond in Joliet.
“JCA was going to be my school of choice, but I ultimately decided to go to Lockport,” Izquierdo said. “So this is kind of a good win for me. It feels good. It was exciting. I had a pretty good day, so I’m happy.
“I know a lot of the guys on JCA, so it’s always nice to get some bragging rights.”
Izquierdo also had a triple and scored two runs for the Porters (6-0), and Joey Manzo added a two-run homer.
Louisville recruit Trey Swiderski went 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs for Joliet Catholic (3-2).
Of course, the talk of the day was the tree that blew over in the top of the second inning, a large part of it resting on the warning track.
“The umpires had never seen anything like it,” Joliet Catholic coach Jared Voss said. “Nobody’s seen it before. We played through it. We decided it was a ground-rule double if it hit the tree. It was just like we were playing in the backyard.”
Manzo came up shortly after the tree fell and aimed away from it, ripping a two-run home run over the wall beyond the opposite gap in right-center field.
“It was pretty crazy seeing that tree fall,” Manzo said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I went for the other gap. It was a fastball, I got the barrel on it and it jumped off the bat.”
That gave Lockport a 3-0 lead before Joliet Catholic scored five unanswered runs. Swiderski tripled and scored on Michael Ascensio’s single in the second. Jackson Cullen had a triple and scored as part of a three-run third aided by a pair of Lockport errors, and Brek Baranoski had a pinch-hit RBI single in the fourth.
Izquierdo, though, took over from there. He tripled and scored on an error in Lockport’s three-run fifth before breaking a 6-6 tie with the two-run homer in the fifth.
Down 9-6 in the seventh, Joliet Catholic loaded the bases with two outs before Lockport reliever Ryan Dunagan induced a game-ending groundout.
Dunagan pitched two scoreless innings for the save.
“It was high-energy, and it was exciting,” Dunagan said. “I had to trust all the work I’ve put in and follow my mechanics.”
Izquierdo is focused on keeping things simple too.
“I just want to stay humble, stay true to myself, stay within myself and just my play game,” he said.
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
