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Bats come alive for Plainfield South
Updated: April 22, 2011 2:02PM
The Plainfield South baseball team provided the ultimate Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act in Wednesday afternoon's Southwest Prairie Conference battle against Minooka.
But the Cougars who committed seven errors were shoved into the background by the bunch that hit the ball all over the lot and turned four infield double plays en route to a 17-4 victory.
South (8-4, 3-2) evened the three-game series at one apiece, with the rubber match on top this afternoon at South.
Some of the Cougars' defensive breakdowns may defy logic, but Minooka (9-5, 4-1) never was in the game thanks to poor timing.
"They made some errors and gave us some chances, but they made the plays they needed to make," Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. "I don't think we made one play we needed to make."
South scored five times in the first inning and four each in the second, fourth and sixth of the six-inning game.
Sophomore first baseman Victor Garcia, a magician with the glove, belted a two-run single in the first inning and an RBI double in the second. Senior center fielder Darrell Collins followed Garcia with a two-run homer in the first and a rocket of an RBI double in the second.
"I thought it was a popup," Collins said of his first homer of the season. "On the double, they tried to get me on a curve and I was ready."
Minooka sophomore left-hander Trevor Machek exited after eight batters in the first. TJ Condon, Carson Neushwander and John Kurtz also paraded to the mound attempting to quell the Cougars, to little avail.
South junior designated hitter Jesse Small ripped an RBI double in the second and two-run homer in the fourth. Carlos Correa tripled to key the sixth-inning uprising, his third hit.
All the while, South ace right-hander Nick Manetti worked from the rocking chair. Minooka had all sorts of baserunners, but the infield double plays in the first, second, fourth and fifth, Garcia's nifty picks of low throws in the first and third, plus outstanding catches by right fielder Ryan Turk and left fielder Correa in the second helped frustrate the Indians.
"Our middle infielders (shortstop Jake Roberts and second baseman Eddie Nelson) have arms as good as any," South coach Phil Bodine said. "They're Division I-caliber. And Garcia is a very good defensive first baseman.
"Our No. 1 (Manetti) needs to pitch better than this after we get runs. But it was nice to come out against a kid who has been pitching well (Machek) and put the bat on the ball like we did."
South, which beat Minooka 11-10 in the fifth-place game of the WJOL Invite earlier this season, finished with 15 hits, with Roberts and Ricky Salazar also chipping in with two apiece.
Sean Macko ripped four solid singles to highlight Minooka's eight-hit attack, but all the Indians could do was look forward to Game 3 of the series. "That's the nice thing about baseball," Petrovic said. "You have an opportunity to bounce back tomorrow."
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