St. Charles North 18, St. Charles East 3
By the time the hitting-fest was over, the top four batters in the St. Charles North baseball team's lineup -- Sam Weinberg, K.C. Wright, Ryan Richardson and Jake Thornton -- combined for 11 RBI against rival St. Charles East.
The North Stars finished with 15 hits -- 10 in the fifth inning -- as they topped the Saints 18-3 in 5 innings Thursday night at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva.
"Hitting has been up and down this year, but we know we can hit the ball," Thornton said. "Today showed we can."
With the win, the North Stars took the series 2-1 after losing the first outing against the Saints Tuesday.
With the North Stars leading 6-3 after 4 innings, they exploded for 12 runs in the fifth. Every batter in the lineup reached base at least once with Weinberg, Thornton, Wright, Richardson and Matt Stevens posting RBI.
"I'm really proud of our kids," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "We just haven't been swinging the bats like we can. We had a great approach today."
"That inning was awesome," Thornton added. "It was fun. I told the guys before the game I had a good vibe about this game before the game. I told them this was going to be the most fun game of our lives."
"It happened because they are a good team," St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes said of the fifth inning. "They are a good hitting team and they showed that tonight. They are solid all-around."
St. Charles North, the visiting team, scored twice in the first and three times in the third, led by Thornton's 2-run triple.
The Saints never led. They scored once in the second on an RBI double from Andy Gruenwald and twice in the third. Mike Hoscheit hit a solo home run and Dan Leibforth nailed an RBI single.
"I'm happy for Mike because he's been our leader," Foulkes said. "It was a shot."
Brian De la Torriente earned his fourth win of the year after giving up 5 hits and 6 strikeouts -- 3 of which came in the fifth to end the game.
"He's been a workhorse for us, and for him to come out and pitch well on this field…what a special night for him," Genke said.
Win or lose, both teams summed up the experience of playing at a professional league park like Elfstrom as a positive one.
"It was amazing," Weinberg said. "I know me, Jake (Thornton), Brian (De la Torriente) and Danny (Jimenez) love playing in big stadiums."
"There was a lot of energy in this place, and we took it to another level," Genke said.
"Ninety-five percent of these kids are not going to play pro ball, so for them to get a chance to play in a pro stadium is a big deal for them," Foulkes added.