By Sean Duncan

FRANKFORT, IL –Lincoln-Way North junior Mike Miller wasn’t a well-known prospect heading into the season, for whatever reason. Embarrassingly, the right-handed pitcher is currently nowhere in the Class of 2013 player rankings.

An egregious oversight, indeed.

Miller showed Saturday that he is one of Illinois’ premier junior right-handed prospects, as he completely baffled Lockport during the No. 2-ranked Phoenix’s 4-0 victory in the Class 4A Lincoln-Way North Regional championship game.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Miller (9-0) played a wicked game of three-pitch monte with Lockport (24-13) – pick a pitch, any pitch. He limited the normally hard-hitting Porters to three hits, and finished with nine strikeouts – eight coming in the first four innings – and two walks. A Lockport runner never reached third base.

“I felt good out there today,” said Miller. “In the bullpen everything was working for me. Everything felt good. I established the curveball early and spotted it all game.”

Miller commanded the zone with four pitches. He worked the entire game at 84-86 mph, touching 87. He opened the game with two straight curveballs for strikes, and continued to confound the Porters with his sharp 74-76 mph breaking ball all game long. He also flashed a 78-79 mph slider and mixed in an effective changeup with arm-side fade.

All told, the Porters didn’t have much of a chance at the plate. Lockport showed life in the fourth, when Josh Altmann opened the inning with a double. But Miller struck out the next three – hitters three through five – in order.

“He was able to throw the curveball and command the strike zone,” said Lockport coach Andy Satunas. “He kept us off-balance, then we started to get a little anxious. … I haven’t seen anyone do that for seven innings like that. It was a heck of a performance.”

After winning its own regional championship, Lincoln-Way North (32-5) advances to Thursday’s sectional semifinal against Homewood-Flossmoor, which defeated Sandburg 6-3.     

The Phoenix broke open a scoreless tie when junior left fielder Mike Irace and junior shortstop Josh Handzik opened the bottom of the third inning with consecutive singles. A sacrifice bunt by Jake McCabe moved them over, and Irace scored on a wild pitch. Junior right fielder Alex Neufield staked North to a 2-0 lead with a run-scoring single.

Irace and Handzik were back at it in the fifth, each scoring again on a sacrifice fly by McCabe and a RBI single by Corey Krupske. Irace (2-for-3) and Handzik (1-for-2) – the No. 7 and 8 hitters – scored all four of the team’s runs.  Senior Dominic Hartman also had two hits.

“That’s our team,” said Lincoln-Way North coach Joe Skarbek. “It’s not the same guy every time. Everyone contributes. Every guy can hit in the lineup.”

Lockport junior right-hander Evan Martens (7-3) threw well in defeat. He struck out five in the first three innings and finished with six punchouts in six innings. He yielded no walks and nine hits. In the early innings, Martens’ fastball sat in the 83-85 range, and threw an effective 74-76 mph curveball for strikes. Martens, however, needed to be perfect with the way Miller was holding down the Porters’ offense.