Waubonsie Valley rides hot bats, Singh's pitching to win over Oak Park
The difference between spring and summer goes beyond the thermometer.
Waubonsie Valley's baseball team represents another blazing example.
The Warriors continued their stirring summer performance with Tuesday's 9-2 victory over Oak Park in the opening round of pool play at the IHSBCA Elite Eight state tournament at Naperville's North Central College.
If they can claim a second pool play victory over Naperville Central at 1:30 p.m. today at Lisle's Benedictine University, the Warriors (25-12) will be well on their way to advancing into Friday's semifinals.
It's a far cry from a disappointing spring season in which the Warriors enjoyed little success.
"You can tell these are just quality kids," said Waubonsie Valley coach Dan Fezzuoglio. "And they want to do well and play well."
From beginning to end the Warriors played well against perennial summer power Oak Park (20-7), a six-time summer state champion.
Backed by the complete-game pitching performance by junior Kris Singh, the Warriors broke a scoreless tie with a 2-run third inning. They busted open the game with a 6-run fifth inning.
Seven players accounted for the Warriors' 9 hits, 4 coming in the explosive fifth.
"Props to my team for hitting all day," said Singh, who scattered 6 hits, struck out four and walked four. "We knew this was a good team. And we knew if we hit the ball we'd be in good shape."
Kevin Kirchner sparked the offense with a two-out, 2-run single in the third inning. Danny Walker's RBI single boosted the margin to 3-0 in the fourth.
Waubonsie Valley batted around in the fifth inning. Sammy Carius' run-scoring single led to back-to-back 2-run singles by Jeff Brown and Ryne Gill. A fielder's choice put the lead at 9-0.
Oak Park, which stranded eight runners, finally broke through with JoJo Maldonado's 2-run double in the top of the seventh.
"It lifts the weight off our shoulders," Kirchner said of winning the first game of pool play. "It takes a lot off pressure off. We can come out (today) and just play baseball."
Lincoln-Way East 10, Naperville Central 0: Griffins ace pitcher Dietrich Enns needed nothing more than George Patteson's 3-run homer in the third inning.
Like all summer, though, the hits kept on coming for sweet-swinging Lincoln-Way East (14-2).
Naperville Central (29-11) started out on the wrong foot in Tuesday's opening day of pool play at the IHSBCA Elite Eight summer state tournament at North Central College, falling in six innings to the Griffins.
Advancing into Friday's semifinals became more difficult with the loss, but the Redhawks can get back in business with a win over Waubonsie Valley at 1:30 p.m. today at Benedictine University in Lisle.
"It was one of those games where I thought whoever scored first was going to win," said Redhawks coach Bill Seiple. "Give them credit. It was a good day for them."
It started with Enns, who stranded five Naperville Central runners in the first three innings. Enns fired a 3-hitter with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks.
"I just tried to challenge them," the lefty said. "It was nice to get a good lead. I told them I'd take it from there."
A 4-run fifth inning extended the Griffins' lead to 8-0. Jeremy Cruz blasted a 2-run homer while Derek Siadak added a 2-run single. Siadak's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth ended the game.
Mike Oles had 2 hits for the Redhawks, who committed 3 errors during a shaky day in the field. Starting pitcher Pat Kaminska allowed only 1 earned run in 4 innings before being relieved by Dan Schick and Luke Holm.