Jinki Tomita tosses a gem for Grant baseball in pivotal PIL win over Wells

Published 10:08 pm Friday, May 16, 2025

By Austin White

Last season on Ida B. Wells High School baseball’s home park of Clopton Field, Grant junior Jinki Tomita didn’t have his stuff.

The then-sophomore started the game and only lasted three innings, giving up six runs on seven hits with three walks in between.

So Friday, May 16 back on the same field a year later, Tomita was looking to avenge his 2024 outing.

And the junior righty delivered a gem to help Grant win the game 3-0 and take over sole possession of first place in the PIL.

Tomita threw a complete game and gave up only four hits and one walk while striking out seven. Three of those seven Ks came in the bottom of the seventh to slam the door shut on a Wells team that has scored the second most runs in all of 6A.

“It’s crazy, especially because I didn’t do that good last year,” Tomita said. “It was a really important game to me. It was my revenge game and I’m really happy.”

“I’ve never seen (Tomita) pitch a better game,” Grant senior catcher Brady McCarthy said. “Last year, Wells had his number. And this year, he came out, off of one day’s rest, and just did what he needed to do. He didn’t do too much, he didn’t do too little, he didn’t overthrow, and we saw what happened, zero runs.”

In the first game of a two-game set with Wells that will decide the PIL title, the Generals wasted no time getting on the board.

McCarthy led the game off with a walk against Wells starter Grae Wilson, and advanced to second on a balk.

A couple pitches later, Grant junior Elliot Raiton lined a double to left field that scored McCarthy and got the ball rolling.

Senior Kaeden Cruse followed right behind with a single that brought home Raiton and the Generals were up 2-0 before an out was recorded.

“(Raiton) has been on fire and I knew when I got walked I was getting to second base no matter what,” McCarthy said. “(Raiton) came through in a big moment and that sparked the rally, and we never looked back.”

The Generals didn’t have to as Tomita kept the potent Guardians lineup off balance with strong fastball command around the zone, aided by some timely sliders to throw off Wells’ rhythm.

The Guardians got a runner to second or third in the second, fourth and fifth inning, but all three times came when there were already two outs. Grant was able to put away the third out to get out of each jam despite some strong contact launching baseballs into the deep outfield of Clopton Field.

“(Centerfielder Martin Elardo) and (right fielder) Tre Hoffert out there were running all over the park,” McCarthy said. “There was one that was hit and everyone erupted on (Wells’) side. And behind the plate I go, ‘He’s got it.’ And (Elardo) had it.”

Wilson also went the distance for Wells on the mound while giving up the three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

Wells senior Cody Roletto had two of the four Guardians hits, a single and a double. Senior Diggy Griffin had a triple in the fifth and Jackson Poole had a single to start the sixth.

Following that Poole single though, Tomita struck out the next two batters and then got Roletto to ground out to second to get through the top of the Guardians order for a third time clean.

“(Wells is) a great hitting team, they put up a ton of runs and for (Tomita) to come out and have that type of performance shows how great of a ball player and a pitcher he is,” Grant head coach Matt Kabza said. “One thing about (Tomita) is he has a tremendous work ethic, and I think confidence doesn’t necessarily come from in-game performance, it comes from the training and effort to get there and put yourself in that position.

“Being able to look back on the body of work he’s done to get himself ready is really what gave him that confidence to come out and beat a really great Wells team.”

Tomita lowered his ERA this season to 0.93 in 30 IP along with a 1.07 WHIP and 48 strikeouts.

Grant finished with six hits in the game, led by McCarthy going 2-for-3 with a triple and two of the three runs scored. Following McCarthy’s triple in the fifth, Raiton sent a deep fly ball to center for a sac fly, giving him a 1-for-2 day with two RBIs.

The win moves the Generals to 17-7 overall and 12-1 in PIL play while Wells falls to 17-7 overall and 11-2 in league play.

Game two is set for 5 p.m. Monday, May 19 at Grant where the Generals will go for the outright-title, meanwhile the Guardians will be looking to split.

Both squads are expected to start their aces in Cooper Yudhishthu for Grant and Jack Burnham for Wells. But the message remains the same for the Generals no matter who’s pitching: it’s one pitch at a time.

“Just keep doing our jobs,” McCarthy said of the message to his team. “We had a rough inning today and I called everyone in, a couple people were in their head and I said, ‘They haven’t proved anything yet, let’s go get this.’ And then we made two plays that inning.

“Just keep it going and make sure to have fun.”

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