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Saints, Sabres split key doubleheader
| Michael Jarecki ~ for Sun-Times Media
Updated: April 30, 2011 9:27PM
Streamwood and St. Charles East ended Saturday right where they started it: Tied for first place in the loss column in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division standings.
The key doubleheader between the teams didn’t feature the much-anticipated showdown between Saints lefty Wes Benjamin and Sabres lefty Josh Harris, but the two Division-I bound aces still made their presence felt.
Benjamin, a Kansas recruit, tossed a complete game with nine strikeouts in the opener as St. Charles East notched an 8-2 victory. Harris matched his counterpart in the second game as the Villanova recruit also went the distance with nine strikeouts in Streamwood’s 7-4 triumph.
The Game 2 win was especially key for the Sabres, who,after winning their first 14 games of the year found themselves stuck in a two-game skid following the opener against the Saints.
Streamwood (15-2, 9-2) and St. Charles East (15-5-1, 11-2-1) end the month of April in a three-way tie in the loss column atop the UEC River standings with St. Charles North (13-5, 7-2), which swept a doubleheader against Geneva on Saturday.
“We knew Game 1 was going to be tough and we tried to scrap together some runs, but (Benjamin) was just better than us,” Harris said. “That made Game 2 so much more important and the guys were focused. That was big for us to get Game 2.”
The Saints set the tone in the opener by jumping on Sabres starter Blake Hunter for three runs in the bottom of the first. Joe Hoscheit sparked the surge with an opposite-field homer to right to lead off the inning.
St. Charles East tacked on four more runs in the second to make the score 7-2. That was more than enough run support for Benjamin (6-0), who walked one and allowed a pair of unearned runs on three hits. Hunter (3-1) was lifted after 1 2/3 innings and took his first defeat of the season.
Tony Rallo continued his torrid pace at the plate for the Saints by going 3-for-4 with three RBI in the opener. Hoscheit (3-for-4, two runs) and Luke Rojas (2-for-4, two RBI, two runs) also aided the 11-hit attack for St. Charles East.
“We were getting fastballs and we were hitting everything hard,” Rallo said. “It was working and we were putting up runs for Wes.”
The Sabres bounced back in the second game thanks in part to a series of miscues by St. Charles East. A pair of errors by the Saints in the top of the third helped Streamwood score three times to break a scoreless tie.
St. Charles East committed three more errors in the fourth as the Sabres tallied four more runs to push their lead to 7-2. Streamwood also benefitted from a balk and a dropped third strike during the inning.
Dan Ditusa (4-2) started and took the loss for the Saints in Game 2. He struck out four, walked two and allowed three hits and seven runs, only two of which were earned. Johnny Hondlik struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
“Communication is extremely important (on defense) and that’s something we have to continue to work on,” St. Charles East coach Dave Haskins said. “You can’t make five errors and give up so many unearned runs when you’re up against their ace.”
Hoscheit was 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the second game, giving him a 6-for-8 showing on the day. Rojas added a two-run triple in the loss for the Saints.
Tim Cohen led the way at the plate for Streamwood in Game 2, going 3-for-4 with an RBI in his second game back from a foot injury that sidelined him since March. Nate Pearson also chipped in by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Harris (5-1) walked only one and gave up four earned runs on eight hits as Streamwood effectively cut short its first losing streak of the season.
“It’s always in the back of your mind that you could go into a tailspin after getting off to the good start,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. “But the guys battled back today after the first one and took advantage of some mistakes.”
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