Baseball: St. Charles North completes sweep of St. Charles East
St. Charles North senior Tyler Mettetal relished the opportunity to return to the baseball diamond after missing the latter half of last season while undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his throwing arm.
More than anything else, Mettetal wanted to face cross-town rival St. Charles East again before moving on to play at South Carolina.
He made up for some lost time Wednesday afternoon.
Mettetal went 3 for 4 with a home run, double and 3 RBI as the host North Stars (28-4, 22-1) completed the 3-game series sweep with a 7-2 victory over the Saints (22-10, 16-7).
"When I got hurt, the first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to get ready to play East next year,' - that was the goal," said Mettetal. "It was just nice to be out there especially to sweep them."
It extended the North Stars' winning streak to 9 games - spanning the last 3 seasons - against the Saints.
"Our senior class swept them both years," said Mettetal, who delivered an RBI double to put the North Stars ahead 1-0 in the first inning, smacked a solo home run in the fifth to make it 5-1, and added an RBI single during a 2-run sixth. "It's a big deal for us."
St. Charles East tied the game at 1-1 in the second on an RBI single by Thomas Adams (2 for 2, walk) but North Stars pitcher Weston Muir escaped further damage with an inning-ending double play.
"I had to go out there and challenge him a little bit because I didn't like his (Muir) mindset," said North Stars coach Todd Genke. "I didn't think he was being aggressive or attacking hitters like he normally does.
"I thought after the second inning Weston was in complete control."
St. Charles East senior right-hander Keegan Kochis retired 5 batters in a row before hitting Brenden Norberg with a 1-1 pitch in the fourth.
One batter later, Conor Bizik launched a 2-run home run to left on an 0-2 pitch to put the North Stars ahead for good, 3-1.
"Conor really has been an unsung hero for us," said Genke. "He's a kid who knows his role and plays to the best of his ability. He's got serious pop and he plays a good first base."
Anthony Delisi (2 for 4) capped the 3-run fourth with an RBI single while Tyler Mettetal and Sam Faith (2 for 4) added run-producing singles in the sixth.
Muir went the distance, fanning 7 while walking 1.
"I'm just happy for the seniors because they really played well," said Genke. "This is a great time of year to be playing well and this is a great series to have at this time of the year."
The Saints' final run came in on John Dellostritto's seventh-inning sacrifice fly.
"I still think we're getting some good pitches to hit but we're just not getting them - we're fouling those off," said Saints coach Len Asquini. "Credit to them - they're getting some good pitches to hit and they're hitting them. That's a big difference.
"We get two days of practice now and we're going to try to work on that."
Kochis fanned 3 during his 5-inning outing.
"He was really good except for probably four or five pitches," said Asquini. "He looked pretty good which was encouraging for us."