The Minooka varsity baseball team beat Lincoln-Way Central with a commanding 11-0 shutout victory in the WJOL Tournament on April 3.

“The first round of the WJOL tournament was a great start for us,” said head coach Jeff Petrovic.

Brayden Zilis set the tone early, delivering a shutout first inning on the mound. 

Minooka’s offense came alive in the bottom of the first, putting up five runs. A walk by senior CJ Deckinga brought in the first run, followed by a two-run single from Noah Pharo. An error added another run, and Mario Jimenez grounded out to bring in the fifth.

Minooka kept the momentum going in the second inning, with a single by Deckinga extending the lead to 6-0.

 “We came out and fired off a lot of runs in the first inning. We built off that throughout the lineup and did a lot offensively that helped us perform,” said Deckinga.

Zilis earned the win for the Indians, allowing just one hit and zero runs over four innings pitched. Sample came in for relief, tossing a scoreless fifth inning and giving up only one hit.

Senior Noah Pharo, Deckinga, and junior Brady Kozlowski each drove in two runs.

“We were able to capitalize on their errors and move up bases,” said Pharo.

With an explosive start and consistent execution, the Minooka Indians made a strong statement in their 5-inning shutout, leaving the Knights with no room to respond.