Baseball: Jake Gimbel throws efficient gem to lift Joliet Catholic into WJOL Tournament title game

JOLIET – On Major League Baseball opening day, Joliet Catholic pitcher Jake Gimbel received a pregame message from his father, a White Sox fan.

“Go out there and give me a Mark Buehrle shutout today,” Gimbel said with a laugh.

Gimbel came really close to obliging.

After giving up a leadoff single to Providence’s Nolan Galla, who came around to score an unearned run, Gimbel was practically untouchable in Joliet Catholic’s 10-1 win in the semifinals of the WJOL/Don Ladas Memorial Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

“I think everything was working well today. I had one of those really special days that you don’t see in a while. My changeup was working really well, and I felt really happy with it.”

—  Jake Gimbel, Joliet Catholic pitcher

The win advances Joliet Catholic (7-0) into Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. championship game at Duly Health Care Field. Joliet Catholic’s opponent won’t be determined until Friday, when the other half of the bracket conducts its semifinal.

Gimbel went the distance, allowing three hits and recording four strikeouts. He faced the minimum three batters in four innings and never saw more than five batters in any inning.

“I think everything was working well today,” Gimbel said. “I had one of those really special days that you don’t see in a while. My changeup was working really well, and I felt really happy with it.”

Joliet Catholic coach Jared Voss fought off the temptation to use Gimbel in relief during Wednesday’s quarterfinal win over Lockport, a decision that proved fortuitous Thursday.

“We wanted him to start this one, but obviously you’ve got to win the first one to get to this one,” Voss said. “He’s set the tone all offseason for us with his approach and how hard he works. And then for him to go out there today and throw 70% strikes and mixing in all three pitches, he just did a great job of keeping them off balance.”

Joliet Catholic also didn’t waste much time in giving Gimbel all the offensive support he would need. The Hilltoppers rapped 15 hits on the afternoon, getting at least one hit from every slot in the lineup.

A three-hit first that netted no runs after a potential scoring threat was stunted by a runner being thrown out at the plate on a good relay from the outfield seemed like it might loom ominous, but the Hilltoppers stacked up three-run innings in the second, third and fourth, and the game turned into a runaway.

Matt Simmons, Jake Troyner, Zach Beitler, Keegan Farnaus, Jose Granados, Lucas Simulick and John O’Brien had two-hit days for the Hilltoppers, who seemed to have multiple baserunners in play every inning. It was the way the Hilltoppers went about those hits, however, that was most exciting to the coaching staff.

“It was the approach,” Voss said. “We talk a lot about what we do in the gym and tee work and hitting the ball effectively the other way. And I would say out of those 15 hits, 12 or 13 went to the opposite field. Our guys have bought into that approach and being aggressive on the basepaths.

“We had a good day today.”

Providence (3-1) got its hits from Galla, Nate O’Donnell and Eddie Olszta. The Celtics will play for third place Saturday before the title game, also against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.