Baseball: St. Charles North battles past Geneva

There's nothing like a good, old-fashioned pitching duel between neighboring rivals.

A pair of senior left-handers - St. Charles North's Steven Hamer and Geneva's Sean Sinisko - locked up in a mound battle between the Upstate Eight Conference River Division baseball teams Wednesday afternoon in Geneva.

Hamer, a Miami of Ohio recruit, got the better of his Illinois State-bound counterpart during the North Stars' 2-0 victory.

"We played a little bit of travel ball together," Hamer said of his Top Tier days with Sinisko. "We knew we were going to face each other. It was fun."

Hamer tossed 2-hit ball over the first 5 innings, striking out 8 while walking 3 before senior Christian Erickson retired 6 of the 7 batters he faced to record the save.

"I love pitching here - the mound is perfect," said Hamer, who pitched out of a pair of 2-on, 2-out jams in the third and fifth innings. "I've got a ton of friends on Geneva. When they came up, it's not like it was personal but I tried to give it a little bit extra."

While Hamer was on top of his game for the North Stars (6-1, 2-0), the Vikings' Sinisko was equally impressive.

Sinisko fanned 6 of the first 9 batters he faced, including 5 in a row at one point, before sophomore Ryan Thiesse smacked the first pitch of the fourth inning high off the left-field netting to give the North Stars a 1-0 lead.

"We hadn't done anything much up to that point," admitted Genke. "Obviously their big lefty is a tough kid to hit. That (home run) kind of changed the momentum on our side and in our dugout. It was a big swing."

An inning later, Thiesse stroked an RBI single to left after Egon Hein led off the fifth with a walk and Nicholas DeMarco was hit by a pitch.

"He's a special player and he's only a sophomore," Genke said of Thiesse. "He played up last year and I was real impressed with what he did."

Thiesse finished 2 for 3 with a walk from the leadoff spot.

"Coming into the year, I wasn't sure about what we'd do at the top with the guys that we lost," said Genke. "It just seems like in the big situations, he comes through. We're glad to have him around for another three years."

Hamer had the other 2 hits, including a double, for the North Stars.

"Some kids don't hit very well when they pitch or vice versa," said Genke. "It doesn't matter to him (Hamer). He's unflappable."

Ian Hanson reached base all 3 times with a single and pair of walks for the Vikings while Sinisko (4 IP, 1R, 2H, 9Ks), Andrew Bernas and Sean Baumgartner combined to record 13 strikeouts.

"We've seen good pitching here early in the season and Hamer is just another one on the list," said Geneva coach Brad Wendell. "We made him work a little early on but we just didn't put the ball in play when we needed it."

The teams conclude the series Thursday in St. Charles.

"We've got to find a way to turn the tide and hopefully that's tomorrow," said Wendell.