Baseball: Potter gets key RBI for Glenbard West

Glenbard West stranded enough runners to break a baseball fan's heart, but all was forgotten thanks to one swing of Brett Potter's bat.

Potter's single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth inning drove in Logan Ryan with the winning run in Tuesday's 6-5 West Suburban Silver victory over Downers Grove North in Glen Ellyn.

Up to that point Glenbard West (11-10, 7-6) had stranded 13 runners including the bases loaded twice. Sparked by Joey Ciero's game-tying 2-run double in the bottom of the seventh, however, the Hilltoppers found a new mindset.

"It was a good team win for us," Potter said. "We were getting frustrated, but we were obviously getting runners on. We knew it was in reach. The hit just had to come."

Downers North (5-21, 4-12) rallied from a 3-2 deficit by scoring 3 runs in the top of the sixth. The Trojans batted around while taking a 5-3 lead, getting an RBI single from pinch-hitter Cal Bossard.

Ciero's game-tying double flipped the momentum. Downers North smacked 13 hits in the first six innings but managed only one baserunner in the final two.

Peter Schilling, who needed only 5 pitches for a 1-2-3 seventh inning, won in relief of Potter and Drew Cater. Potter started and lasted into the sixth inning.

"We only had 3 or 4 hits yesterday so I challenged our hitters that we've got to be able to put some runs on the board for our pitchers," said Trojans coach Kyle Briscoe. "They did that today. It obviously would have been nice to have a couple more timely hits to get one or two more across, but the kids battled and it was a good learning experience for us."

Brycen Eisenhut's sacrifice fly gave Downers North a 1-0 second-inning lead, but Glenbard West scored twice in the bottom of the inning. The Trojans' Joe Stellato tied it with a fourth-inning RBI single before Potter singled in the go-ahead run in the fifth.

Stellato and Elijah Carter had 3 hits for Downers North, which received 6 strikeouts in 5⅓ innings from starting pitcher Lucas Nielsen. Potter and Gavin Hepner had 3 hits for Glenbard West.

"We made some mistakes, but we also made some really big plays," said Hilltoppers coach Andy Schultz. "If we had lost, that's the reason right there…not getting those runs across. But we stayed in it long enough to finish it off."