Clark takes two from Westville

Updated: May 14, 2011 9:55PM

HAMMOND — The weather could not have been much worse for baseball — but Clark’s offense didn’t mind.

The Pioneers bombarded Westville’s pitching, earning a sweep of their Saturday doubleheader by the scores of 16-3 and 13-1.

“Our guys were upset after our last few games, and they came out today and played like it,” said Clark coach Chris Moore.

Playing on a field where, as Moore put it, “the wind can switch almost every inning,” the Pioneers (16-4) put plenty of balls in play — and in to the wind — to allow for their 29-run outburst.

“Any fly ball was a possible double,” Moore said. “I told our guys to put the ball in play, put your head down and run.”

In the first game, the Pioneers did most of their damage in the third inning, sending 17 hitters to the plate. Each member of the Clark lineup reached base at least once, including a string of 13 straight — all with two outs.

The 12-run, 10-hit inning featured five triples and an inside-the-park, three-run home run by catcher Alex Evanich.

Westville did respond in the next inning, as five straight batters reached base against Clark starter Enrique Zamora. Two runs crossed the plate before Zamora settled down and struck out two Blackhawks to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded. Westville — without standouts Jesse Mills and D.J. Warren in the lineup — never threatened again.

“When you’re missing two of your best players, I think that can have an emotional effect on your team,” Westville coach Kevin McMahon said. “It was a terrible performance for us. They took advantage of the wind more than we did. We didn’t hit any balls into the air and they did. We just didn’t hit.”

The second game featured a similar plot, though Westville did turn a Riley Wilson leadoff double into a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

But it was all Clark after that. The Pioneers scored four times in the first, three times in the third and six times in the fourth. Jordan Polak’s three-run homer in the fourth inning capped the scoring for the Pioneers.

On the mound for Clark, Zamora and Polak went the distance in their respective starts for the Pioneers.

“With the way we’ve been struggling,” Moore said, “to have those guys come out and pitch like that … that’s what we count on those guys to do. That’s why they’re the captains.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.