Bats come alive late for Stevenson

Updated: April 30, 2011 6:00PM

Robert Hawkins kept the Stevenson’s bats in check for five innings on Saturday afternoon.

But a different approach allowed the Patriots to erupt for seven runs in the sixth to defeat Buffalo Grove 9-2.

“He (Hawkins) did have a pretty good curve,” noted Stevenson second baseman Jack Karras. “He liked to pitch to the outside corner, and we kind of adjusted to that.”

The big explosion started small with a walk to Mike Martin. Karras, who had the only hit off the BG left-hander in the first five innings, moved Martin to second with a sacrifice bunt.

“Mike is very fast,” Karras noted. “We knew if we could get him to second, he could score on a base hit.”

Adam Walton broke up the 2-2 tie with a single to left. Jacob Sholl then chased Hawkins by ripping an RBI double down the left-field line for a 4-2 lead.

Stevenson (14-2) put the game away by adding six hits off BG reliever Joel Cruz.

“When we string together hit after hit, it’s almost demoralizing (to the opponent),” said Karras, who had an RBI single in the inning to push the lead to 9-2. “Once we get going, we don’t stop.”

The other hits in the seven-run outburst belonged to Max Golembo (double), Ricky Kern (RBI single), Jeremy Scheck (single), Steve Galanopoulos (RBI triple), and Martin (RBI single).

All of the late fireworks overshadowed the work of Hawkins. The Bison lefty picked up six strikeouts and walked three. The only hit he allowed prior to the sixth was a two-run double by Karras in the third inning.

“When Robert gets his curve over, he can be pretty effective,” said Bison coach Jeff Grybash. “He hides the ball well, and he mixed up his pitches.”

“The kid (Hawkins) hit his spots, and he knows how to pitch,” observed Patriots coach Paul Mazzuca. “In the first five innings, he pitched the ball where he wanted to. He got into a groove.”

Patriots starter Isaac Greenspon didn’t have his best stuff. Over five innings, he allowed two runs on five hits with six walks and five strikeouts.

Buffalo Grove (8-8) had some chances to pull ahead, but had a runner picked off in the fifth with the bases loaded and also hit into a double play with the bags full in the sixth.

Zach Gordon earned the win in relief by getting a double-play grounder in the sixth inning. Blake Fiedelman finished with a scoreless seventh (2 hits, 3 strikeouts).

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