Fuentes shuts down St. Charles East

In his first start of the season, Will Fuentes left an impression on his own team as well as the visitors.

Fuentes, a senior pitcher on West Aurora's baseball team threw a complete game, gave up a pair of hits, one walk and fanned 7 batters in the Blackhawks' 10-2 against nonconference St. Charles East in Aurora Tuesday.

"What Will does is change speeds really well and gets ahead of hitters," West Aurora coach John Reeves said. "We kind of expected Will to do that. He did a nice job keeping them off-balance and keeping them guessing."

"(Fuentes) was lights-out," St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes added. "That kid threw a great ballgame. He showed what happens when you hit locations and change speeds a little bit without overpowering anybody. He did a great job on the mound."

Fuentes threw the first three innings flawless while his teammates did damage at the plate. In the first, Cory Walden posted an RBI single and Chris Richter hit a 2-run home run for a 3-0 advantage.

DJ Smith's RBI double sparked the Blackhawks (2-1) in the second inning.

Richter scored again as part of a 4-run, 4-hit third inning, which was also highlighted by Brandon Lawrence's 3-run home run to right-center.

Lawrence was batting for No. 9 hitter Chad Becker, who was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat. Mike Roggeman also had an RBI single, as the Blackhawks led 8-0 after three innings.

West Aurora put two more runs on the board in the sixth after an RBI single from Jeff Etter and an RBI double from Richter.

Richter was just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, as the sophomore finished 4-for-4, scored 3 times with 3 RBI.

"I'm seeing the ball well," Richter said. "I'm just trying to put the ball in play, not trying to do too much."

St. Charles East (0-2) managed a pair of runs off its only two hits in the fourth inning. Catcher Steve Schenck hit a 2-run single that scored Mike Hoscheit and Mark Proust.

"Steve Schenck caught a nice game behind the plate, so it was nice to see him get that hit," Foulkes said.

For the next three innings, Fuentes kept the Saints off the bases, as he recorded 3 consecutive strikeouts to end the game.

"I felt great today," Fuentes said. "I just came out here and tried to make my pitches and give us a chance to win."

The Blackhawks finished with 14 hits off three St. Charles East pitchers.

"We did a good job today putting the bat on the ball," Reeves said. "We struggled the first two games putting anything together. We had some guys come up in some key situations."