Baseball: Bangert protects West Chicago's lead
It was only 1 run but it felt like an overwhelming amount of insurance to Chris Bangert and West Chicago's baseball team.
With a 2-run lead heading to the final inning, the confidence in the field became obvious as Bangert cruised through a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to close out Tuesday's 5-3 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory over visiting Glenbard East.
West Chicago (4-14, 3-8) held a 4-0 lead after an inning, then watched the Rams (14-10, 7-4) gradually creep within 4-3. An insurance run on an error in the bottom of the sixth gave the Wildcats much needed breathing room.
"It was a huge relief getting that run," said Bangert, who pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief to get the save. "I was much more comfortable on the mound after that. One run can make a huge difference."
Wildcats sophomore Bobby Bartlett, who scattered 7 hits in 5 innings to earn the win, set the Rams down in order in the top of the first. West Chicago batted around and put its first six batters on base in the bottom of the inning. The first four scored, pushed in by Bangert's RBI double, Cade McHenry's bases-loaded walk and Robert Szulczewski's sacrifice fly.
Rams starter Brett Tomlinson endured a 35-pitch first inning but settled down nicely and pitched into the sixth inning. Glenbard East's offense, however, couldn't overcome the tough opening.
"Brett did a good job settling down after that first inning," said Rams coach Joel Pelland. "He kept us in position to win the ballgame. We had guys in scoring position and just couldn't come up with the clutch hit."
Glenbard East scored lone runs in the second, third and fourth innings as Bret Bushka, Nate Bertuca and Tommy Wilkans came up with run-scoring hits. Bartlett stranded nine runners while Bangert stranded a 10th at third base in the sixth.
"Our Achilles' heel all year has been teams putting stuff together and breaking it open on us," said West Chicago coach T.J. Nall. "Today we didn't let that happen. Bobby did a great job on the mound controlling the game, and it's promising as a sophomore that he can command the game like that."
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