Hedmark getting high marks for Dundee-Crown

Dundee-Crown baseball coach Jon Anderson appreciates pitchers who throw strikes.

Freshman Erik Hedmark fit the bill in a 5-3 nonconference win at Bartlett Monday.

Hedmark was originally placed on the sophomore team this spring and soon gained the attention of the varsity staff with his command of the strike zone.

Following a varsity bullpen session and an intrasquad game, Anderson elevated the left-hander to the D-C varsity for the April 17 game against Burlington Central. Hedmark started and won that debut by holding the 19-win Rockets to 2 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks He struck out 4 in 4⅓ innings.

On Monday, Hedmark made his fourth and most impressive varsity appearance to date.

Bartlett (11-11) had already rallied for 2 runs on 4 hits in the fourth inning against fading D-C starting pitcher Matt Wiechmann, and the Hawks had runners at second and third with one out when the freshman fireman entered in relief. Hedmark doused the conflagration by inducing a run-scoring groundout from Mike Prang for the second out, followed by a strikeout, which allowed the Chargers to escape with a 1-run lead.

"My train of thought was to just try to get out of the inning and hold the lead," Hedmark said. "That was basically it, just throw strikes and shut them out."

Hedmark went on to pitch 3⅓ scoreless, hitless innings. He struck out 3 with nary a walk. Of his 33 pitches, 24 were strikes.

"He did a nice job of just coming in and throwing strikes," Anderson said. "That's the thing as a reliever: you have to come in and throw strikes. If you start walking people, that's an issue."

Hedmark was eventually lifted with the bases empty and two away in the seventh inning in favor of Jim Welzien, who struck out the only batter he faced to earn his third save. Hedmark's titanic hold preserved a win for Wiechmann (2-1), who held the Hawks to 3 earned runs on 5 hits in 3⅓ innings. D-C pitchers did not issue a walk.

Dundee-Crown (15-7) scored 3 runs in the first inning against Bartlett pitcher Scott Palmer (0-1), who was making his first start. Cleanup hitter Jared Ludwig followed Brett Johnson's sacrifice bunt with a 2-run double down the right-field line for a 2-0 lead. Riley Alvarado capped the rally with a run-scoring groundout.

The Chargers added important single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, both on two-out singles by Nick Musielewicz, who went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and a sacrifice bunt.

"This is a new approach I'm trying the past few games," Musielewicz said. "I wasn't doing so well so I came up with a new approach and it worked."

The Hawks got back in the game in the fourth. Jordan Flint legged out an RBI infield single, and Michael Pfaender's double trimmed the deficit to 4-2 and left two runners in scoring position. That's when Anderson called on Hedmark to play fireman.

Victory may have eluded Bartlett, but the Hawks came away feeling positive anyhow.

"This isn't the outcome we want but I think we're feeling a little bit better and we're figuring some more things out," Bartlett coach Chris Pemberton said. "Our approach is better. We've got to hit some more line drives and some more groundballs, but it's a step in the right direction. We're learning some things. We made some adjustments on positions, some guys got some innings on the mound who haven't seen a lot of time so they got some experience and they're growing.

"It's a mark in the loss column, but it was a positive step for us today.