The Bat of Moerman
Illinois recruit caps 9-run first inning with 3-run homer as Lockport stuns H-F in rout
Senior shortstop Ryan Moerman bulked up before the season, planning in advance to provide Lockport with some more pop with his bat.
“I came into the season with a lot of confidence,” he said. “I knew for us to win, my job wasn’t going to be to hit singles and get on base. I’ve got to bring these guys in somehow. Putting it over the fence is a good way to do it.”
Moerman put another one over the fence Friday.
The Illinois recruit went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer as the host Porters rolled to a 16-2 SouthWest Suburban Blue win in five innings over Homewood-Flossmoor.
Moerman’s towering blast to center field was his sixth homer of the season and capped a nine-run outburst in the first inning for the Porters (9-4, 1-0).
“I think I weighed around 180 at most as a sophomore, and I got up to 207 this year,” Moerman said. “A lot of work in the weight room. It was a grinding offseason. Last season, too, when we didn’t get to play, I definitely put in some extra work.”
Lockport coach Andy Satunas was not surprised to see Moerman put in the extra effort.
“Ryan is a self-made man,” Satunas said. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around in my 21 years here at Lockport. He’s hungry. He doesn’t get satisfied.
“Even when it was 9-1 or 10-1, he said, ‘Guys, we’re not done yet. Let’s keep it going.’ That’s what we want out of our leaders.”
H-F (13-4, 0-1) had Chad Readey on the mound to start. The Northwestern recruit entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 0.93 ERA.
But red-hot Lockport came out with five straight hits to open the bottom of the first.
Victor Izquierdo had a two-run double, and the Porters took advantage of a key error that extended the inning and led to five unearned runs. Moerman also singled in the inning before his home run.
“We felt like if we only get three or four that inning, it would be a win for them,” Moerman said. “We wanted to put up as many as we can. That’s a great team, so anything can happen if we don’t keep putting up runs.
“I think any time we throw that lineup out there, one through nine, we can get to any team’s ace really quick just like we did (Friday).”
Junior Lucas Pajeau, making his first high school start on the mound for Lockport, settled in with the big lead and threw four strong innings. He struck out nine and allowed two runs on four hits.
“I got out of the first inning pretty quick and then they came out and put up nine runs,” Pajeau said. “I was comfortable the rest of the game after that.”
Pajeau said he suffered an elbow injury in junior high and has been limited since as a pitcher. Friday marked his second mound appearance for Lockport after a relief outing earlier this season.
“I haven’t started a game as a pitcher in a long time,” Pajeau said. “To get my first start and get a win felt really good.”
Griffin Brown went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs for Lockport, while Matt Merk was 3-for-3 with an RBI. Will Goldberg delivered an RBI double and Shane Jones produced a run-scoring single for H-F.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our hitters having a solid approach at the plate,” Satunas said. “Being able to not only drive in a lot of those runs but also take advantage of a couple miscues.”