Halla spot-on in Oak Park’s win

Fenwick’s Colin Tobin slides back into first base to beat the pitcher’s throw against Oak Park.
(Scott Powers/For the Sun-Times)

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Making a spot start for Oak Park, Eric Halla threw the game of his life by allowing three hits and no runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 5-0 victory against neighborhood rival Fenwick on Friday at UIC.

‘‘I had a lot of adrenaline pumping,’’ said Halla, who walked one and struck out two. ‘‘I don’t think I can ask for anything better. This is a big field. This will be one of the most important games of the year for us.’’

With Oak Park (19-7) in a fight for a conference title and facing Downers North in a doubleheader on Saturday, Huskies coach Chris Ledbetter decided against using any of regular starters and handed the ball to Halla. The decision worked out perfectly for Ledbetter, an Oak Park grad.

“I told my assistant coach, ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid in a spot start throw such a great game especially under the pressure of facing Fenwick here,’” Ledbetter said. “He’s the type of kid who will work as hard as he can to get whatever innings possible.”

Through four innings, Halla and Fenwick starter Cam Verbeke were matching each other pitch for pitch. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Oak Park’s Jo Jo Maldanado broke up the scoreless tie with a pinch-hit single that scored Kyle Glancy.

Halla was relieved with two outs in the fifth inning by junior Luke McClese. McClese finished the job for the Huskies, allowing no runs and three hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Drew Golz (2-for-4, run, RBI), Joe Kelly (2-for-4, triple, RBI), Maldanado (2-for-2, RBI) and Glancy (2-for-3, run, RBI) led the Huskies offensively.

Brian Moore went 2-for 4 for Fenwick (16-8).

“It always feels good to beat Fenwick,” Ledbetter said. “I had a lot of respect for coach [David] Hogan and his program, but when you coach Oak Park and graduated from Oak Park it’s a game you always want to do well in.”