Vikings play simple baseball to earn win

Updated: May 7, 2011 6:57PM

Hard-hit singles, stolen bases and drawing walks.

There was nothing flashy about Saturday’s nonconference showdown with Rich Central for Homewood-Flossmoor.

But coupled with eight Central errors, the get runners on and move them over mentality earned the Vikings a 12-6 win in Olympia Fields.

“We were pretty locked in today hitting the ball,” Homewood-Flossmoor’s Ben Kirchler said. “If we get on base, were forcing them to make plays. They didn’t make many plays so we got the job done.”

All 12 runs were unearned as H-F never trailed, opening up a 4-2 lead through one inning and never looked back.

Kirchler had two hits but reached base five times for the Vikings, scoring three runs, while Ryan Rasmas went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Homewood-Flossmoor (14-7) slapped out 10 singles and a double to go with four walks and nine stolen bases.

“Offensively we had some pretty good approaches,” H-F coach Todd Sippel said. “They made some errors, and they were unearned runs, but we swung the bat okay. We’ve just got to make the plays because were making too many errors.”

The Vikings committed four errors of their own, but the early cushion softened the blow. Rasmas RBI single in the first plate Kirchler from third, and Dan Lietz scored on a David Stern groundout.

Dan Dwyers two-run double up the middle extended H-Fs lead to 4-0 before starter David Fatoki even took the mound.

Fatoki (4-2) gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning but settled in quickly, getting the win with his six innings of work. He gave up five hits and four walks to go with seven strikeouts.

“The thing about David is that he’s a tough, hard-nosed kid,” Sippel said. “He didn’t have his best stuff today, but he battled and did a nice job.”

While Fatoki limited Rich Central’s line-up, his own hitters extended the lead. The Vikings scored three in the fourth, two in the fifth and sixth, and one in the seventh.

Brandon Fowler went 2-for-4 with a run scored for Central (15-3-1) who have now lost two games in a row for the first time this season.

“Rough day fielding, roughest we’ve had by far this season,” Rich Central coach Corey Stallings said. “No excuse, we’ve just got to make plays. The ability to bounce back from the mistakes is key.”

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