Lincoln-Way East’s Trevor Fishman was having the type of day he would like to forget. With one swing of the bat, he turned it into a day he will always remember.
Entering the seventh inning in a tie game, Fishman — a senior utility player — was 0-for-3 with a couple misplays at third base. He was yearning for another chance Saturday.
“That whole inning, I thought I could be coming up with two outs and guys on base or anything like that,” Fishman said. “I was hoping for that at-bat. It kind of just all came together.
“I had a terrible game before that, and I just knew I had to do something.”
What Fishman did was come through with one of the biggest hits in school history, ripping a walk-off RBI single to left field to lift the second-seeded Griffins to a 10-9 over the host Porters in the Class 4A Lockport Sectional championship game.
Pittsburgh recruit Tyler Bell had a two-run homer, a double and two runs for Lincoln-Way East (31-8), while Ball State commit Zach Kwasny and Jack Cosich added two RBIs apiece. Connor Bird threw the final 1 1/3 innings without allowing a run to earn the win.
With two outs, John Connors was intentionally walked to set the stage for Fishman, a Wabash Valley recruit.
“I got a good fastball to hit and I crushed it right over the shortstop,” Fishman said.
It’s the second sectional title in program history and first since 2011 for the Griffins, who will take on Brother Rice (24-15) — a 6-3 winner over St. Rita — at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Crestwood Supersectional at Ozinga Field.
“We’ve done some things historically this year,” Lincoln-Way East coach Eric Brauer said. “We’ve won 20 games five seasons in a row, and we’d never done that. Four-peat as conference champs, never done that. School record 31 wins.
“This is only our second sectional, and we’re trying to make history Monday night. It’s been a really fun ride. “
Jake Moerman went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs and Colton Benaitis was 2-for-4 with an RBI for fourth-seeded Lockport (22-14). Dylan Nagle finished 2-for-4 with two runs and allowed just one run over 3 1/3 innings of relief.
The Porters rallied from a 9-4 deficit and tied the game by scoring four runs with two outs in the sixth inning. Two of those runs came on Moerman’s single that took a wicked hop past Fishman, who felt he should have made the play.
Fishman made an error earlier in the game as well.
“He had a couple rough plays in the field, but he was ready to go,” Bell said of Fishman. “He came through in the right situation where we needed him. You can’t let the negative affect you.”
The Porters, who were down to their final out before rallying for a 10-inning win Wednesday over Providence, nearly pulled off another comeback.
“We’re just so proud of them,” Lockport coach Scott Malinowski said. “How many teams are going to roll over and die several times in that game? I could go on and on about the heart and the relentlessness.
“This is a game full of imperfections, and it’s more about how you respond to those things. I think we’ve shown thousands of people, just in the last few days, how we respond.”
But the Griffins are moving on thanks to Fishman, who has made a huge impact all over the field — playing first base, third base and right field and pitching.
“I knew I wasn’t going to play shortstop over Bell,” he said. “That was my old position. I moved to right field and then some spots have opened up in the infield and I’ve moved to those.
“It’s fun. It’s a different thing every game. I never know where I’m going to play.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
