In sixth grade, Donovan Moleski broke his right arm while roughhousing with a friend.
The accident turned out to be the blessing in disguise that helped spark the pitching career of Moleski, who’s now a junior at Lemont.
“One of my friends and I were messing around wrestling and he broke my arm,” Moleski said. “When I did the physical therapy, I came back throwing harder.
“I kind of thank that friend for making me a better pitcher, because after that, I finally did some arm exercises that made me stronger.”
Lemont’s entire team will be thanking that friend with the way Moleski has pitched in the playoffs.
Moleski threw 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief Monday night, allowing just two hits to lead Lemont to a 4-3 victory over De La Salle in the Class 3A Crestwood Supersectional at Ozinga Field.
Shea Glotzbach went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Lemont (30-9), which clinched the third state trophy in program history and first since 2016. Missouri-St. Louis recruit Noah Tomaras added an RBI single, while Brett Tucker doubled and scored a run.
Lemont, which won 3A state titles in 2014 and 2016, plays at 1 p.m. Friday in a state semifinal at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet vs. Highland (30-6-1), a 6-3 winner over Mahomet-Seymour.
Kaleb Navarro notched a triple, a sacrifice fly and a run for De La Salle (22-15). Dasaan Lee allowed two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. He also drew two walks and scored a run.
Moleski came into the game with Lemont down 2-1 to the Meteors, who had a runner on third with just one out in the third inning. Moleski allowed a sacrifice fly to Navarro, the first batter he faced, but shut down De La Salle the rest of the way.
“I had a rough start to the season and everyone else had my back,” Moleski said. “I couldn’t throw strikes early in the year and the coaches had my back, my teammates had my back.
“(Starter Matt Devoy) has been great all year and he struggled to find the zone a bit, so I had to come in and have his back. He thanked me after the game, and I just told him I had his back.”
Moleski also threw five shutout innings in relief in Wednesday’s 9-0 sectional semifinal win over St. Laurence. After a regular season that was rough at times, he has emerged as an unexpected postseason star.
“Early in the season, I was trying to be too perfect, trying to hit too many corners, and I was missing and getting frustrated when I couldn’t throw the perfect pitch,” Moleski said. “I realized I have a great defense behind me and they’ll make plays.”
Lemont coach Brian Storako is proud of the way Moleski has improved.
“He had a rough start, but he grinded it out,” Storako said. “He figured it out. He worked at it, and it’s kind of clicking when we need it the most. He’s been our horse.
“I’m not going to say it came out of nowhere because we knew it was always there, but the way the season started, I guarantee he wasn’t thinking it was going to be like this.”
Of course, the same could be said for Lemont as a whole. In mid-April, Lemont was just 7-6. But eventually, a young roster got rolling.
On Monday, Lemont rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Glotzbach and Tomaras had the key RBI singles.
“Going through the ups and downs was rough,” Glotzbach said. “Going into the playoffs, I was like, ‘Maybe we can get a regional, try to battle it out at the sectional, but I don’t see anything more.’
“Now that we’re here, we might as well go all the way.”
