Willowbrook wins a pair from Hinsdale South
After a walkoff win in the opener, Willowbrook senior Chris Roycroft felt the weight of the world come off his shoulders as he took the mound for Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against Hinsdale South.
With the right-hander setting the tone in the second game, the Warriors eased their way to a West Suburban Gold sweep with 2-1 and 5-1 victories in Villa Park.
Kyle Ferguson won the first game with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, and then Roycroft capped the day with a 1-hitter featuring 10 strikeouts. Roycroft struggled through 6 walks, but he gutted out the complete-game win by stranding six, including the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
The Hornets' lone hit came on a bunt single in the fifth.
"Winning that first game puts a lot less stress on my shoulders, and I just throw," Roycroft said. "It really energized me and made me want that win even more."
Willowbrook (19-8, 10-4) led 1-0 in the opener after a Trey Jones sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, and Warriors starter Cam Zunkel kept the score right there until Hinsdale South (12-12, 7-7) tied it in the sixth on Lucas Carlson's RBI single.
Reliever Matt Garbacz picked up the win with a scoreless top of the seventh leading up to Ferguson's walk-off hit in the bottom of the inning.
The Hornets - who also received strong starting pitching from Alex Briscolino and freshman John Colucci - stranded 16 runners on the day.
"We're not playing very well, but the bright spot has been our pitching," said Hornets coach Paul Hoel. "We just haven't gotten the big hit when we needed it. We're waiting for it. We keep putting ourselves in good spots. It's not just one guy, but hopefully we start swinging it."
Jones spotted Willowbrook to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2 with a 2-run single. Each team scored a run in the fourth inning before the Warriors added 2 runs in the sixth including one on Mike Petruzzi's RBI single.
"It was two high school teams executing real well out there today," said Willowbrook coach Vic Wisner. "It was a real complete day for us."
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