Glenbard South continues mission

The Glenbard South baseball team has its sights on a Metro Suburban Conference title. As this week wrapped up, it remained in the hunt.

The Raiders (13-8, 7-2) put on a display of offense as it swept its series against Timothy Christian with a 16-0 result in five innings Friday in Elmhurst.

“Our main mission is to win conference. We’re just trying to do that,” said senior Doren Blake, who helped the Raiders with two doubles, three hits overall and led with five RBI overall.

Series against Elmwood Park and Illiana Christian remain. The team’s only conference defeats were to Riverside-Brookfield.

“I’m happy with the way we played today. We were strong in every phase of the game — hitting, pitching, running and defense,” said Raiders coach Mike Riley. The Glenbard South coach wants his team’s momentum to continue for not only a shot at the league title but the postseason seeding meeting at the end of next week.

The outcome of this contest was decided early.

The Raiders tagged the Trojans (5-17, 2-10) for four runs in the first. Blake’s two-run double and Zach Smith’s RBI double sparked Glenbard South during the inning.

Glenbard South made it 7-0 in the second as starting and winning pitcher Ethan Gasbarro connected on a two-run triple and Blake’s groundout brought in a run. Gasbarro finished 4-for-4 with 4 RBI.

The cement dried on the game’s outcome in the fourth as the Raiders tagged Timothy Christian for eight runs. Blake and Gasbarro each had two-run doubles and Zach Bava’s basehit drove in a run.

“My swing was a little off, but as the game went on, it was there in the zone,” Blake said.

Other big contributors were Mitch Gasbarro, who scored three runs and Carl Sanders, who scored two.

As a pitcher, Ethan Gasbarro allowed just two hits, a double to Chris Ridolphi in the first and a single to Ben Zastrow in the third and struck eight.

“That’s the hardest I’ve seen Ethan throw. We clocked his fastballs at 88 mph. He’s just a junior,” Riley said.

Friday’s game against the Raiders was Timothy Christian’s fifth this week, and lack of depth became an issue.

“We don’t have depth at pitching and that’s a problem. And Glenbard South is a good team. We played them tough the first two games (2-1, 6-0 defeats),” said Trojans coach Jim Snoeyink.