Baseball: Burlington Central blasts past Woodstock North
With starting pitcher Dylan Berry struggling and ineffective, Burlington Central baseball coach Kyle Nelson was seeking a relief pitcher to slow down the Woodstock North offense.
Kyle Hresil provided the relief Nelson was looking for.
In 4⅓ innings of work out of the bullpen, Hresil blanked the host Thunder on 4 hits to earn the win as the Rockets cruised to a 17-6 win in Kishwaukee River Conference action in Woodstock Monday afternoon.
"Kyle was outstanding," said Nelson. "He came in and threw strike one. He did a great job of changing speeds and kept the hitters off stride.
Hresil, in his third relief appearance of the season, struck out 6 without walking a batter in the game, which lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes.
"I was a little nervous when I came in the game but I was able to settle down," said Hresil. "I enjoy coming in the game in relief. My curve and change were really working. It was a good win on the road and a good win to start the three-game series."
Holding a slim 7-6 advantage after 6 innings, the Rockets (14-3, 6-0) exploded for 10 runs in the seventh.
With 14 batters coming to the plate, leadoff hitter Clay Milas led the offensive barrage with a pair of RBI triples. Dave Lauber collected 2 run-scoring singles, Josh Noeska provided an RBI double and Nick Matijovec drove in a run with an RBI single.
"We just couldn't add on a run after the third inning," said Nelson. "It was nice to get some insurance runs and explode for a big inning in the seventh. It was nice to have some breathing room going into the bottom of the seventh. It was good way to start the series with a road win."
Working with a 10-run lead, Josh Rodriguez blanked the Thunder in the seventh on 1 single. The hard throwing left-hander struck out 2 with a walk.
Taking advantage of 6 Woodstock North errors, the Rockets scored 17 runs on 14 hits.
Milas paced the Rockets with 3 hits, 2 triples. 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Lauber (2 RBI, 3 runs scored, 2 stolen bases), Noeska (3 RBI, 2 runs scored), and Matijovec (2 runs scored, 2 RBI) collected 2 hits each for the winners.
Woodstock North, which scored all 6 runs in the second inning, had 10 hits. Jacob Glaves and Aaron Montgomery provided 2 hits each while Cory Busse produced a 2-RBI single for the Thunder.