Baseball: Belskis, Metea Valley cool off WW South
Jack Belskis struggled to sleep Friday night, and it wasn't the nerves of making his first high school start on the mound the next morning.
Nor was it the prospect of trying to pick up his Metea Valley teammates after Friday's devastating loss to Wheaton Warrenville South. It wasn't even facing the same Tigers lineup that just scored 15 runs, including nine in the sixth inning of a remarkable comeback.
The reason was more simple.
"It was hot in my room, so it was tough to sleep," Belskis said.
Sleepy eyes didn't matter. The sophomore left-hander delivered just what Metea Valley's baseball team needed in Saturday's 8-1 victory at WW South, pitching 5 strong innings to even the three-game DuPage Valley Conference series.
Belskis, who had shoulder surgery two years ago, has been used as a closer on the sophomore team. He was brought up to varsity on Saturday for his first start since he was an eighth-grader.
"Once I got here I was like, 'All right, I can do this,'" said Belskis, who allowed 3 hits, struck out two and walked two. "I felt good out there."
Metea Valley (12-12, 11-10), which lost 15-13 to the Tigers (11-12, 9-10) on Friday, kept swinging it.
The Mustangs led 2-1 in the second inning on Andrew Cronin's RBI single and Sam Labarbera's run-scoring double. WW South starter Caleb Larson, who struck out eight in 5⅓ innings, kept the potent lineup there until Metea Valley exploded for 6 runs in the sixth inning.
Danny Zorn, who pitched 2 scoreless inning of relief, Jason Kirchner, Jake Kmiecik and Spencer Collins all had run-scoring hits.
"They hit like crazy," said Tigers coach John Scherrman. "They're so good at the plate, you can't afford to give them extra outs and extra opportunities. They're going to start hitting eventually."
WW South scored its run in the bottom of the first, tying the game 1-1 when Matt Scherrman tripled and came home on Patrick McGarry's single.
After the victory the Mustangs hopped on their bus and drove to Naperville Central for an afternoon game. They beat the Redhawks 12-11 in a slugfest.
Clay Billadeau homered and drove in 3 runs while Cade Sullivan also had 3 RBI. Kmiecik was the winning pitcher in relief.
"Jack threw the ball very well for us," said Metea Valley coach Craig Tomczak. "We've had a lot of young guys come up throughout the year, but to do that, especially after the momentum they gained from last night, Jack threw the ball exceptionally well."
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