Myers' gem lifts Storm by Bartlett

Entering only its fifth game of the season, the South Elgin Storm had seen it all. They've been apart of cancellations and 13-run blowouts. A 1-3 start wasn't something South Elgin wanted, but if there was be a game for the Storm to turn it around, it would be Monday's against Bartlett.

And they would need a pitching performance from senior Josh Myers to do so.

Myers did just that. He gave up 2 runs, striking out three and most importantly, taking a no-hitter into the fourth while going the distance to lead the Storm (2-3, 2-3) to a 7-2 victory over Bartlett (4-3, 3-2) in an Upstate Eight Conference bout in South Elgin.

Looking strong from the outset, Myers used his curve and his pin-point location to force the Hawks' powerful offense into groundball and pop-up situations. He retired Bartlett's first 6 batters, before issuing his first walk. Leaving it up to his defense, the Storm turned two double plays, one in the fourth that saw Myers walk a batter and hit a batter.

"Josh always has good location, and when he's hitting his spots, it's pretty hard to hit him," said Storm catcher Kyle Kinyon.

"Some key double plays were turned. It's real important for the offense, they can relax and do their thing," said Myers.

Although Myers gave up 2 runs in the fifth and sixth, his offense was relaxed, giving him cushion early.

With the bases loaded in the first inning, Kinyon (2 RBI) lined a single over first that allowed 2 runs to score. In the third, the Storm, with a run in, capitalized on 2 Hawk errors when Kyle Daker's sacrifice bunt was misplayed, allowing 2 additional runs to score, giving Myers a 5-0 lead to work with.

"We got off the bus flat, never found our heart and South Elgin capitalized," Hawks coach Rocco Marinucci said.

Myers (1-1) avoided a potential threat in the sixth when he struck out Mike Darby, after allowing 2 singles to begin the inning.

"Josh did a great job. We needed our senior leadership to step up. He kept himself focused and took care of business," said Storm coach Jim Kating.

"He wanted to come out strong. This is Bartlett, this is the team we want to beat," said Kinyon.

With another game versus South Elgin today, Bartlett looks for redemption from a night where it only scored 2 runs on 4 hits. Kyle Burden and Ryan Walker scored the only Hawk runs on sacrifices.