|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sports
Wolves' offense in full swing : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisWolves' offense in full swing
| Oswego East baseball team crushes Reapers, wins SPC opener behind no-hitter
| by Laura M. Medina
| 4/5/2012
|
One-run and two-run contests have characterized the start of Oswego East's baseball season, but one of their matchups last week was anything but reminiscent of that close-game trend.
Offensive production was in full force for the Wolves, as they used a seven-run first inning to power them to a dominant 10-0, five-inning victory over visiting Plano on Friday morning.
Each of Oswego East's first five games in the 2012 slate has been quite competitive, with no game being decided by more than two runs. After losing its first three games by a combined 12-8 margin, the team picked up a 4-3, eight-inning victory at Yorkville on Thursday afternoon ahead of Friday's blowout.
Even though it looked like the Wolves had finally strayed from their early-season tendencies, they resumed their ways with a 3-2 home loss to Metea Valley on Saturday. Last season, the Mustangs earned a pair of double-digit victories over the Wolves.
Still, Oswego East (3-4, 1-0) made considerable progress on the offensive front last Friday, as its bats came out swinging in the seven-run first.
"It's nice to be on that side of a game," Oswego East head coach Jim Vera said. "Every varsity game has been a one-run game or a close game...so it was nice to see us hit the ball well. I thought we played great defense, and (senior right-hander) Matt Miller pitched great."
After shutting down Plano with a one-two-three first inning, leadoff hitter and second baseman Andy Jaskolski came out in the bottom half and hit a home run to left on the second pitch to get things started. Junior right fielder Gunnar Mlsna then reached on an error and was sacrificed over to second by junior shortstop Chris Cooper.
Miller walked in the next at-bat, and both he and Mlsna came around on a single from senior designated hitter Jake Litkenhus. Senior first baseman Zach DiZillo and senior catcher Jordan Sullivan hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles to push the Wolves' lead to 5-0.
"I don't know if I'd say we've been slumping this early in the season, but we've been scoring just a couple runs a game," Vera said. "I know these guys can hit, and they know they can hit, so (Friday) felt good."
Three batters later and with two outs, Jaskolski (3-for-3, two runs, three RBIs) came up again in the frame and drilled a two-run single to the left-field fence off of left-hander Arian Herrera to give the home side a 7-0 advantage.
Herrera surrendered three runs and four hits, while walking three and striking out four in 2 1/3 innings after spelling starting right-hander Nate Lee, who conceded seven runs (four earned), four hits and two walks in 1/3 innings.
As shaky things were on the mound for the Reapers, the Wolves were solid behind Miller, who surrendered just three hits in his complete-game performance.
Two of those hits came off the bat of designated batter Trent Bowers, whose single in the second proved to be the Reapers' only base-runner over the next two innings. Bowers also tossed 1 1-3 perfect frames of relief.
Meanwhile, after it was limited to just one hit in the second, Oswego tacked on a few more runs in the third - one on a passed ball and two on Cooper's single to right - to make it 10-0 in support of Miller, who went the distance on 63 pitches, striking out four and tossing just one wild pitch in the effort.
"Just having one of these games gives everybody a sigh of relief," said Miller, who scored a run on Friday after doubling in the winning run against Yorkville the day before. "It takes so much pressure off. When the offense is on and the pitcher is on, it makes everything go smoothly, and you've just got to ride the wave."
Miller mixed in his fastball and curve ball with his off-speed pitches to keep Plano at bay throughout the game, but he also benefited from an error-free performance by his defense.
"Our defense was amazing," Miller said. "We had a couple fly balls that were caught, a couple of hard line drives that were caught, too, so that played a big role in helping us secure the win."
With each victory, Oswego East has seemingly put its 0-3 start by the wayside and appears to be settling into the season, which the team is hoping will end up with a Southwest Prairie Conference championship.
The trek toward that goal started this week with a tough three-game series with Romeoville, which concludes today, Thursday, at Oswego East at 4:30 p.m.
Notes: On Tuesday, Oswego East opened Southwest Prairie Conference play in dramatic fashion with a combined no-hitter against Romeoville. Senior Matt Schultz pitched five innings with 10 strikeouts while Miller closed the game, striking out two batters. This is the first no-hitter in school history. Cooper drive in two runs.
In last Saturday's loss to Metea Valley, junior Zach Delli led the way with two RBIs.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
