St. Charles East 5, St. Charles North 2

When it was all over, Chris Burgess, a senior pitcher on the St. Charles East baseball team, stepped off the mound and had a huge smile on his face.

Not only did the Central Michigan-bound righty earn his first win of the season, he did it against the Saints' biggest Upstate Eight Conference rival -- St. Charles North.

Burgess pitched the distance, allowed 5 hits and 1 walk and struck out seven in the Saints' 5-2 win over St. Charles North Tuesday at St. Charles East.

"It felt good, it felt really good," Burgess said. "My defense was behind me, the 2-out hitting was clutch, (Steve) Schenck catching for me and calling pitches, it was awesome for me. Everything was working. I can't complain."

Burgess was awarded the game ball after he improved to 1-2 on the season.

"Chris threw a great game today," St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes said. "He was ahead of a lot of hitters, he threw two pitches over for strikes consistently and kept them off-balance pretty well."

Schenck played a key role at the plate and behind it. As Burgess' catcher, the two worked together for the first time this year without the help of Foulkes calling the pitches.

"It just hasn't been going that good this season, so we decided to try it," Schenck said.

Schenck was the hero on the offensive side as well. With the score tied at 2 and with two outs in the third inning, he hit a huge 2-run double with two outs and two strikes that gave the Saints a lead they never let go.

"(St. Charles North starter Danny) Jimenez is a tough pitcher, but Steve just got a hold of one," Foulkes said. "I don't think people realize how close (North Stars' shortstop Sam Weinberg) was to catching that. That basically went right over his hands, so that big hit really gave the rest of our team a lot of confidence."

"I knew I hit it hard, so I knew it was going to drop," Schenck added. "I was just looking for a fastball, and I got it."

St. Charles East (8-9-1, 7-4-1) scored in the first on an RBI walk from Burgess. The North Stars (11-5, 7-3) answered with a pair of runs in the second, led by Brian De la Torriente's RBI double. He eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The Saints tied the game on another RBI walk from Zach Scott before the big third inning. They scored a final time in the sixth on an RBI single from Tom Lollino.

"We came out sluggish," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "I don't know how we can come here and not be ready to play…I give (the Saints) credit. They were ready to play."

Jimenez had an uncharacteristic outing and took his first loss of the season. After 3 innings, Ryan Johansen relieved him and gave up just 1 run.

"Danny is human, he's a high school kid and he just didn't have it today," Genke said. "I'm proud of Ryan Johansen…he was ready to go today. He kept us two runs behind, which is what we needed. Sometimes, you have to have guys who will step up and keep you one run or two runs behind to give your offense a chance, and he did that today. It's a shame because it would have been nice if we came back and got him the win there."