Last winter, senior infielder Niko Mastoras, who had not pitched in high school, did some lighthearted pleading with his Lockport coaches to give him a chance to get on the mound.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, and Mastoras was throwing all the biggest pitches with the season on the line against top-seeded Providence.
“If someone would have told me back in the winter time that I’d be closing out the most important game of the year up to this point, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Mastoras said. “There’s no shot.”
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Mastoras gave his team a shot at a sectional championship, allowing just one run over the final four innings to earn the win in relief as the fourth-seeded host Porters rallied for a 7-6 victory over the Celtics in 10 innings in a Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinal.
Jake Moerman went 4-for-5 with the game-winning RBI single, while Jake Schindler and Dylan Nagle each drove in two runs for Lockport (21-13), which will take on Lincoln-Way East or Lincoln-Way West at 10 a.m. Saturday in the sectional championship game.
Jackson Smith hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs for Providence (30-7-1), while Cooper Eggert and Saint Louis recruit AJ Vinci each produced an RBI double.
Mastoras, a St. Xavier recruit, took the mound in the seventh with the game tied 5-5. He retired six straight batters.
“I had the adrenaline going,” Mastoras said. “I was struggling at the plate earlier in the game, and I just figured I had to come in and contribute in some way.
“I just came in trying to fire and light up the strike zone the best I could. Everyone was contributing. I had the defense behind me. It was great.”
Mastoras showed no signs of being someone who hadn’t pitched in his first three years of high school. He’s been used in relief this season, mostly for short outings at the end of games.
“I hadn’t even pitched since eighth grade before this season,” he said. “Jokingly, I kind of told (Lockport coach Scott Malinowski), ‘Hey, let me pitch.’ In the offseason, we had a bunch of spare time and I just showed up one day and pitched. They were like, ‘Hey, maybe this guy could actually contribute in some way.’
“I just come in and compete. That’s all you need to do to be a high school pitcher. You don’t have to have crazy stuff. Just be a competitor.”
Trailing 5-3, Lockport was down to its final out in the seventh inning with runners on second and third when Schindler hit a slow dribbler down the third base line.
The throw to first was late and courtesy runner David Kundrat, who started the sequence at second base, never stopped running to score the tying run without a play after the ball skipped away from the first baseman.
Both teams scored a run in the ninth inning before Moerman’s heroics in the 10th. He slapped a two-out single up the middle for the winning RBI.
“I just took a deep breath and calmed myself down,” Moerman said. “I know it can be very stressful for people in the heat of the moment. I was already 3-for-4, so I was confident and I just got it done.”
Mastoras then shut down the Celtics in the bottom of the 10th to complete the comeback.
“Niko showed us all heart,” Malinowski said. “Obviously, the physical talent is there. The pitching coaches kind of initiated this way back in the winter because you can never have too many arms. It’s all hands on deck.
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“He’s kind of got the demeanor, mentally and emotionally, to do it and be good on the mound. You saw that (Wednesday).”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.