IC makes quick work of St. Edward
Tuesday at 4:32 p.m., just before the first pitch of Immaculate Conception’s baseball game against St. Edward at Elgin’s Wing Park, the field umpire asked IC first-base coach Charles Bolden if he knew what time Game 3 of the Blackhawks-Coyotes playoff series was scheduled to begin.
“Is it 7 o’clock?” the umpire asked.
“7:30, I think,” Bolden replied.
“Ah, we should be done in plenty of time,” the ump theorized correctly.
The puck actually dropped at the United Center at 8 p.m., and the Knights, Green Wave and the umpires all had plenty of time to drive home, make dinner, settle into recliners and still watch the hockey game in its entirety, thanks to IC’s 2-0 victory in 91 crisply played minutes.
IC senior right-hander Brian Harvey (3-1) outdueled St. Edward junior left-hander Jacob Koehring (5-2) to earn a Suburban Christian Gold victory that featured only 7 combined hits. The victory was the fourth straight for the first-place Knights (10-8, 5-1), who completed the 2-game series on the heels of Monday’s 8-4 win.
“We’re really pleased,” Harvey said. “(St. Edward) is a great ballclub this year, so it’s great to get the sweep.”
Harvey limited St. Edward (13-11, 4-4) to only 4 hits, 3 of them of the infield variety. He struck out 6, walked 3 and hit a batter. He stranded 8 St. Edward baserunners in all, 5 in scoring position.
“They’re tough, and they got the better end of it today with timely hitting,” St. Edward coach Tim Dovichi said. “You need all three parts of the game to show up, but we only had two of the three.”
Harvey’s best escape job came in the fourth inning after St. Edward (13-11, 4-4) loaded the bases with one out. Koehring walked, Tyler Morawski reached on an infield single and Ryan Nudd was hit by a pitch.
However, Harvey regouped to strike out the No. 8 hitter looking at an outside fastball for the second out. He then induced a soft dribbler back to the mound from a pinch hitter to end the threat.
“It’s nice to have a performance like that, especially when you’re not scoring a whole lot of runs,” IC coach Dan Holleman said of Harvey.
Koehring struck out 3, walked 2, and he allowed only 3 hits. “I felt pretty good on the mound,” he said. “I walked two, so I have to get better with that, but I thought I had all three pitches working pretty decent, especially the change.”
However, 2 of IC’s 3 hits were run-scoring doubles with two outs. Nick Mrubacz doubled home Dan Ribando to stake the Knights to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, and Ribando’s double down the left-field line in the sixth put IC ahead 2-0.
“I was just looking for something I could hit and drive,” Mrugacz said. “(Koehring) is a good pitcher. He was throwing a lot of a junk. I was waiting for a fastball and I turned on it.”