Before the Slammers bus 500 miles to Pennsylvania for a first-place showdown against Washington this weekend, they have another task.
To add distance in the standings.
A 6-1 win in Tuesday’s Frontier League series opener against Windy City was only the fourth in 10 games for East Division leader Joliet. The series concludes with a doubleheader on Thursday after Wednesday’s game at Silver Cross Field was postponed.
“We have to finish off hopefully the sweep against the ThunderBolts,” Joliet first baseman Marc Flores said.
Joliet (45-39) have a 2.5-game lead over Washington (43-42) after the Wild Things beat Traverse City 3-2 on Wednesday night.
“It’s a big series against Washington, but these games against Windy City are just as important,” Slammers assistant coach Chris Mongiardo said. “You don’t want to go in there limping.”
Or come back limping, either. Joliet faces four key games against the Wild Things, including the makeup of the July 7 rainout as part of Friday’s doubleheader.
After single games Saturday and Sunday, the Slammers will have only six games remaining in the regular season — a road series against Lake Erie and a home series Sept. 2-4 against Traverse City.
“We’re not nervous,” Flores said. “We’re just going to go out there and play our game. If we do what we’ve been doing throughout the whole season, then we should have no problem.
“We know what kind of group we have. We know we can win, put up runs. We can get it done. No one is freaking out or stressing out. Everyone just wants to play and we’re hungry to win.”
The starting pitchers for Thursday’s first game at 4:05 p.m. will be Joliet’s Shane Bryant (4-2) and Windy City’s Kyle Von Ruden (1-4). The second of the two seven-inning games is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m.
Back-to-back doubleheaders Thursday and Friday make one thing fairly obvious for the Slammers in their bid for their first playoff appearance since 2011:
“It’s going to come down to the starting pitching,” Mongiardo said. “When the offense gets going, we’re tough to beat. The key to get the offense going is getting a good start from our starting pitcher.”
Right-hander Liam O’Sullivan (9-1, 3.58), the Slammers’ ace, was named the league’s Pitcher of the Week on Monday, one week after third baseman Jake Gronsky was named Player of the Week.
Gronsky is batting .295, No. 2 on the team behind second baseman Carter Bell (.323). Flores is hitting .288 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs.
The Slammers will need that offense to make the four-team postseason that’s scheduled to begin Sept. 6 with best-of-five first-round series.
West Division leader Southern Illinois has clinched a playoff spot. The two wild-card teams could come from the West Division, which means Joliet likely will have to win its division to make the playoffs.
“We’re not in it yet,” Flores said. “We’re right there. We’re close.”
Girls Volleyball
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Stagg 25-25, Shepard 20-18: Lauren Glaza had 11 assists in pacing Stagg (1-0).
Tinley Park 25-25, Richards 18-22: Jackie Alberto put down 12 kills to spark Tinley (2-0, 1-0 SSC Blue).
York 25-25, Lincoln-Way West 13-21: Kirsten Leitshuh and Kerrigan Fritz totaled six kills each for West (1-1).
Boys Soccer
Argo 3, Joliet West 2 (SO): Kamil Landowski had the winning goal in the shootout for Argo (2-0) in the Windy City Ram Classic championship bracket.
Bremen 4, Joliet Central 3 (2 OT): Osmar Martinez’s goal lifted Bremen (2-0) into the quarterfinals of the Windy City Ram Classic.
Illinois Lutheran 6, Kankakee 0: Josh Cullen posted a hat trick for Illinois Lutheran (2-0) in the RVC/Southland Challenge.
Marist 3, Providence 2 (SO): Brice Wyderski scored in regulation and also provided the deciding goal in the shootout in helping Marist (1-1) advance to the consolation quarterfinals in the Windy City Ram Classic.
Reavis 3, Lincoln-Way East 0: Edgar Alvarado and Nando Barragan were among the goal scorers for host Reavis (2-0) in the Windy City Ram Classic championship bracket.
St. Laurence 2, T.F. United 1: Mario Carmona scored both goals for St. Laurence (1-1) in the Windy City Ram Classic consolation bracket.
Sandburg 1, Maine South 1: Colin Kroll scored for Sandburg (1-0-1).
Shepard 4, Lincoln-Way West 3: Mike Iturbe netted two goals to lead Shepard (2-0) in the Windy City Ram Classic championship bracket. Kyle Seymour had all three goals for West (1-1).
Girls Cross Country
Morris Early Bird Invitational: Individual champion April van Ryn (18:48) led Chicago Christian (67) to a second-place finish behind Kaneland (42).
Boys Golf
Chicago Christian 147, Reavis 201: Medalist Nate Kamp shot a 34 to lead Chicago Christian at Stony Creek.
Girls Golf
Lockport 175, Lincoln-Way East 176: East’s Hannah Hill (38) was the medalist at Green Garden.
Awards and honors
USF tops in men’s cross country: St. Francis’ men’s cross country team is ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll.
Tim Tierney is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown. Freelance writer Josh Krockey contributed to this story.