Sandburg has right formula vs. LW East

With clutch hitting, big pitches in key spots and flawless defense, Sandburg showed Monday why it is one of the top teams in the south suburbs.

The Eagles opened SouthWest Suburban play in Frankfort with a 5-1 win over No. 10 Lincoln-Way East, which is expected to be one of Sandburg's main challengers in the conference.

Senior right-hander Greg Billo worked five innings for the Eagles, allowing five hits and one earned run for the win. Senior catcher Jim Pipolo had two RBI singles and a run to lead the offense for the Eagles, who improved to 5-1 overall.

Lincoln-Way East fell to 5-3.

"We played some pretty good defense today," Sandburg coach Doug Sutor said. "If you get good pitching and defense, you'll do the job."

Both teams were solid defensively; neither committed an error.

Sandburg got on the board first with two runs in the top of the third. The Eagles opened the inning with four straight singles: from Ian O'Connor, Ryan Bachman, Nick Kujawa and Pipolo, the last two hits each driving in a run.

Lincoln-Way East starting pitcher Dietrich Enns, who took the loss after allowing five earned runs on 11 hits over six innings, was able to prevent any further damage in the frame.

The Griffins answered with a run in the bottom of the third. Matt Lyskik doubled, and after a walk to Tim Lilja, Brandon Hohl drove in Lyskik with a single to left.

Lincoln-Way East, though, missed a golden opportunity to put more runs on the board. The next hitter, Andrew Wendt, drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Billo, however, worked out of the jam to protect Sandburg's 2-1 lead.

After the Eagles added a run on an O'Connor RBI single in the top of the fourth, Billo wiggled out of another sticky situation in the bottom of the inning.

The Griffins put runners on second and third with no outs but came up empty. Sandburg third baseman Bob Newman made the key defensive play of the inning, throwing Joe Turek out at the plate on a Lilja grounder.

Sutor was impressed with Billo's ability to pitch out of jams.

"I told him, 'You showed some courage, son,' " Sutor said. "We clocked him at 88 [mph] today, throwing in the cold. I can't wait to see what he does when it warms up."

Billo struck out four and walked three.

Sandburg tacked on two insurance runs in the fifth on RBI singles from Pipolo and Ryan Cowhey.

Senior Alex Zarate pitched the final two frames for the Eagles, allowing no runs and two hits and striking out two.

Wendt reached base in all four plate appearances for Lincoln-Way East, drawing two walks and singling twice.