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Sports
Minooka holds Oswego to two hits : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisMinooka holds Oswego to two hits
| Panthers look to rebound from lopsided losses in remaining series games
| by Christine Bolin
| 4/26/2012
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The Oswego baseball team opened the Southwest Prairie Conference series with Minooka on Tuesday, but 'small ball' didn't work well for the Panthers.
Oswego suffered its most lopsided loss of the season, falling 8-0 to the Indians in just its second shutout all year.
"We've won a couple of 1-0 games and won games where we've had three hits - we just have to stay close in games," said Oswego head coach Chris Neitzel, whose Panthers have won six of the past eight games. "We are the definition of small ball this year. We're still playing pretty good baseball, but this was the worst defeat of the season as far as the final score goes."
The Panthers dropped to 12-7 overall and 6-4 overall. The second game of the series took place Wednesday, but results were not available at press time. The third game will take place today, Thursday, at Oswego at 4:30 p.m.
Minooka left-handed pitcher Josh Jimenez allowed just two hits. He was throwing a no-hitter up until the fifth inning, when a single from junior first baseman Chad Burdo with two outs broke it up. Senior shortstop Tim Wodzisz had the other hit - an infield single - in the sixth inning. The Indians' ace threw all seven innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
"(Jimenez is) a three-year varsity pitcher and was pretty masterful," Neitzel said. "They are a good team, always one of the best in the conference. It was a combination today - we weren't hitting and this kid was pretty tough on the mound."
"It's tough," Wodzisz added. "Everyone's goal on the team was just to go up there and look for something to hit, jump on the first fastball and make contact with whatever they can because if we put the ball in play, things will happen."
Minooka scored four times in the top of the second. A pair of walked batters, Joe Carnagio and Dane Colvin, scored on Mark Fox, the No. 9 batter, hit a two-run RBI double with two outs. He eventually scored on an infield error by the Panthers that got leadoff man Alex Bebar on base. Bebar scored on an RBI single from Nick Fleischauer.
The Indians scored again in the fourth on an RBI double from Fleischauer. TJ Condon led the fifth off with a double, and that would be the last hit Oswego starter Parker Meek gave up. The senior took the loss after he gave up eight hits, seven strikeouts and two walks.
Condon eventually scored, and so did Carnagio on RBI singles from Max Brozovich and Austin Polcyn. By the end of the fifth, Minooka led 7-0. The Indians' final run came in the sixth on an RBI single from Carnagio.
Oswego ended up leaving five stranded. It did not help the Panthers that Minooka ended up connecting on three double plays in the first three innings.
"Parker only threw a couple of bad pitches," Neitzel said. "Obviously, they out-hit us (Minooka had 13 hits off three different Oswego pitchers), but we aren't going to out-slug any team. The way for us to have stayed in this game was to scratch a run or two across in the first or second and Parker get us out of that second inning. The game would have been different. It's not a negative against our guys when I say we aren't going to out-slug anyone. We are going to beat teams 2-1 or 3-2, and obviously, we didn't do that today."
Notes: Oswego's six game winning streak was snapped when Plainfield Central topped the Panthers, 8-3, on the road on April 18. Junior John Malatia, however, provided a three-run home run.
The Panthers, however, won the series the next day on April 19 with a 4-2 victory over Plainfield Central. Junior pitcher Alex Milne struck out 12 batters in six innings in his best game of the year. Junior catcher Jose Camacho and junior Rick Tormey each had two hits for Oswego.
Milne, however, might be out for a while. He is dealing with a bit of a strain in his left elbow, which is in a sling.
"Obviously, it's a huge loss because he's been lights-out for us all year," Neitzel said. "I think it was just one of those freak things. He'll bounce back. I don't think we'll get him back for the rest of this regular season, but you never know."
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