C-G gives Bruns plenty of runs
In any other year the 10-0, six-inning loss the Dundee-Crown baseball team absorbed at Cary-Grove on Saturday would be considered a disappointing season opener.
But because it marked the first time the Chargers had even stepped on a field this season, practice or game, the end result wasn't nearly as important as the fact there was a result.
In a nonconference game added in the middle of the week between these friendly Valley Division rivals, pitcher Corey Bruns tossed 5 innings of 2-hit baseball to lead Cary-Grove to its fourth straight victory to open the season.
Bruns, a 6-foot-2 senior right hander, used a mix of four-seam fastballs, two-seam fastballs and curveballs to strike out five and earn the victory in his first start. He already had 2 saves under his belt.
"I was happy with the first start," said Bruns, who walked two. "The two-seamer was cutting in a lot and the curveball I got over a lot."
The Trojans jumped to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first via a double steal. With sophomore Chris Waylock on third base, junior Nick Hammonds took off from first, drawing a throw from Chargers catcher Mike Zozokos. When Hammonds pulled up to induce a rundown, Waylock scurried home without a throw for a 1-0 lead.
Dundee-Crown starter Ken Warzalek shut the Trojans down for the next 2 innings before exiting. The two D-C relievers who followed, however, combined to walk nine Trojans, opening the floodgates.
Cary-Grove struck for 5 runs in the fourth inning, a rally fueled by 3 free passes and a 2-run double over the left-fielder's head off the bat of junior first baseman Kevin Adams.
"I got a fastball that I fouled off, but it was right there," Adams said. "Then he gave me another fastball in the same spot, and I put it out in left.
"Our team is really stepping up and playing real well. I think we're going to have a great season this year."
Cary-Grove scored another pair of runs in the inning on a true hustle play. With Trojans on second and third, No. 9 hitter David Ptaszek chopped a swinging bunt just to the right of the pitcher's mound.
Zozokos fielded the ball but couldn't throw out the hustling Ptaszek. Not only did courtesy runner Matt Nelsen score from third on the play, so did senior Donnie Fitzgerald, who rounded third with a purpose and caught the D-C defense by surprise to stake Cary-Grove to a 6-0 lead.
"He's a pretty instinctive baserunner," Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland said of Fitzgerald. "I learned that about him last year. He made that decision himself and it was a great decision. That broke the game open."
The Trojans added a run in the fifth on Adam's RBI groundout and closed the game out with 3 runs in the sixth, capped by Kegan Mascarella's game-ending single to left with the bases loaded.
Despite the loss, the Chargers were happy to be playing baseball outside for the first time this season.
"I can't really say anything bad about the way we played," D-C coach Fred Bencriscutto said. "It's literally the first time we've been on a field. You don't ever want to see guys walking as many guys as we did (10) or not making pitches that need to be made, but we struck out too many times (5).
"We just have to get outside and be able to work a little bit and we'll improve. That's not to take anything away from (Cary-Grove). I thought they hit the ball hard, particularly in the later innings. Combine that with the walks and errors and you're going to get 10-runned, and that's all there is to it."