Stay Connected with YourSeason
WW South bats come alive in win
Updated: May 18, 2011 9:59PM
After Wheaton Warrenville South leadoff hitter Matt Sturgeon beat out a throw to start the game with a single, the Tigers bats kept on connecting to the tune of a six-run top of the first.
That led to a 10-0, five-inning triumph Wednesday over host West Aurora in order for South to not only sweep the DuPage Valley Conference series from the Blackhawks, but boost its records to 17-13 overall and 13-8 in league play. West Aurora dipped to 9-18 overall and 6-15 in the DVC.
“It doesn’t help to get down early. Unfortunately we’ve done that far too often,” West Aurora coach John Reeves said. “Offensively, it’s not too often that we put a ton of runs on the scoreboard, so we need to have a better start defensively. Unfortunately today we gave up a few good hits plus they found some holes and before you knew it, we were down six.”
After Sturgeon’s hustle single, Zach Jarosz followed with an RBI single before Steve Lemm doubled to the gap in right center to make it 2-0. An error in right, the first of four for West Aurora, on Jeremy Rhoades fly ball enabled Lemm to score, and then R.J. Hoshell’s grounder past second made it 4-0 without an out. As the Tigers batted around, Sturgeon and Jarosz both were back on base when Blackhawks left-handed starter Adam Wyeth was relieved by Tom Goulding, who induced a groundout to short to end the top half.
Ritchie Renner’s single to center was a good start for West Aurora, but after South right-hander Lemm got one of his two strikeouts for the game, a force kept Renner from getting to second and the Tigers got out of the frame.
Rhoades led off the second for the visitors with a double to left before Hoshell blasted a homer over the left field fence.
“I had a feeling it was going out, but I typically run the bases hard because I believe it’s best to run them all out,” Hoshell said.
The day before in Wheaton, Hoshell broke open a 1-1 deadlock in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run homer to power the Tigers’ 4-1 win over West Aurora. Wheaton Warrenville South pushed home two more runs for a 10-0 lead.
“That was certainly a pleasant surprise,” WWS coach Tim Brylka said. “We haven’t had a start like that all year. What was even better was coming back in the second and not being satisfied. Those four other runs were nice to see.”
The lone bright spot for West Aurora was the effort of Bobby Drager, who retired the Tigers in order in the third inning, and then stranded a runner in both the fourth and fifth during his three innings of relief work.
© 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.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment