Athletics 2024 Spring Wrap-Up By: Randy Whalen 

Every season can’t end with a state title. That doesn’t mean it still wasn’t a success. 

The Joliet Catholic Academy baseball team had captured back-to-back Class 2A State Championships. Moving up to Class 3A this spring, the Hilltoppers wanted another one. While they lost in the sectional final, there were still outstanding things in the season.

The Hilltoppers finished 29-6 and won the Class 3A Pontiac Regional Champions. They defeated Dunlap 3-1 in a sectional semifinal, but they lost 7-0 to Morris on Friday, May 31, in the sectional title game. Morris (30-4) ended up fourth in the state. 

But along the way, JCA repeated as 1340 AM WJOL Will County’s News Talk Sports Don Ladas Memorial Tournament Champions. Went 10-2 against a grueling East Suburban Catholic Conference schedule to be runner-up there. The team finished No. 12 overall in the Prep Baseball Report Illinois Final Power 25 Ranking after being ranked No. 2 overall for a majority of the season. The Hilltoppers also Peaked at No. 39 in the National Top 50.

Receiving ESCC accolades were senior left-handed pitcher Jake Gimbel as Pitcher of the Year. Senior first baseman Jake Troyner was named Co-Offensive Player Of The Year. Also making All-Conference was senior third baseman Jose Granados, senior outfielder, Zach Beitler, junior catcher Zach Pomatto, and sophomore shortstop Lucas Simulick. 

On the lower levels, the Hilltopper junior varsity and freshman teams both finished at the top of the ESCC conference standings. The junior varsity finished 18-8 overall; 10-2 in ESCC play. The freshmen finished 17-5 overall and 7-2 in ESCC play. 

In 2021, the Angel softball team played for the Class 2A state championship and finished as runner-up. While this spring didn’t bring the same sort of playoff run, JCA still had a nice season, going 17-9, including 8-4, and placing third in the East Suburban Catholic Conference, which featured Class 4A state runner-up, Marist.

Making ESCC All-Conference were senior outfielder Madison Patrick and sophomore infielder Addison Rizzatto, who were both repeat selections. Junior infielder Addison Fanter and senior designated hitter Sydney Walker were both first-time selections. 

Patrick and Rizatto also made Second Team All-State, while Fanter was Third Team All-State. 

At the Class 2A Girls Track and Field State Finals, which were held between Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18 at Eastern Illinois University, JCA had 8 points. Those were registered by sophomore Symone Holman (5.38 meters) who placed second in the long jump. 

Also making the preliminaries at state was Holman in the 100-meter dash, sophomore Ella Heinen in the 800-meter run, senior Claire Blotnik in the 1600-meter run, and the foursome of freshman Mary Kate Moran along with seniors Sophia Mihelich, Jordan Reeves, and Annie Tibbott in the 4×800 relay. 

The Class 2A Boys Track and Field State Finals were held between Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25 at Eastern Illinois University, There the Hilltoppers had 5 points and made the finals in four events. 

Those were registered by senior Nathan Ciarlette with a PR time of 4:18.20 and a fifth place finish in the 1600 meter final and junior HJ Grigsby with a distance of 6.50 meters and an 11th place finish in the long jump. Also competing in the finals for JCA was freshman Dylan Travis, who placed 32nd with a distance of 12.42 meters in the triple jump, and junior Nate Magrini, who was 33rd in the shot put with a throw of 13.25 meters. 

Individually, Grigsby and junior Michael Brow, who had a PR time of 11.04 seconds, were at state in the 100-meter dash prelims. Also, senior Nathan Ciarlette had a time of 4:26.04 in the 1600-meter 2A preliminaries. 

A pair of Hilltopper relays were also at state. Those were senior TJ Rzasa, Brow, sophomore Craig Peacock, and Grigsby in the 4×100 relay. Also, sophomores Jiuliani Verdin and Chris Corsi, along with seniors Darian Arteaga and Nathan Ciarlette came in with a time of 8:39.99 in the 4×800 relay preliminaries. 

In boys tennis, both of the Hilltoppers doubles teams advanced to state. That was senior Andy Munoz and junior Ryan Streitz, along with seniors Matthew Sojka and Connor Neville. 

JCA hosted its own sectional on Saturday, May 18, and finished with 13 points to place second behind Lemont (24). Munoz and Streitz defeated Sojka and Neville 6-2, 7-6 (3) in the sectional third-place match. Unfortunately, neither doubles duo won a match at state.

In boys’ volleyball, the Hilltoppers were hit hard by graduation from the previous season when they went 27-8. But in the spring of 2024, they fell to 8-26 and 2-6 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. 

Miles Czerkies made All-Conference. It was the second straight season the senior setter got that honor. JCA hosted its own regional but lost to Benet Academy 25-20, 25-16 on Tuesday, May 21 in a quarterfinal match.

The girls’ soccer team had some struggles, finishing 2-18 on the season. But the two victories were both shutouts. Those were a 3-0 win over Marian Catholic in an East Suburban Conference match on April 17 in Chicago Heights. Also, the Angels won a regional semifinal game

That was a 7-0 victory over the host Knights on Saturday, May 11 in the Class 1A Chicago Christian Regional. The Angels fell to Peotone 3-0 on Wednesday, May 15 in the regional title match. Senior midfielder and captain Ella Dwyer led in goals and made All-Conference. Freshman midfielder Syndell Ocegueda was the assist leader.