Lisle High's Osika perseveres over Driscoll
Sometimes a baseball pitcher just has to gut one out.
That's exactly what Lisle's Jay Osika did Wednesday against Driscoll.
Gutting out a complete-game performance, the senior right-hander capped a long day by striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh in a 10-6 victory over the Highlanders in Addison.
"(Pitching coach Jason) Wiertel called a great game," Osika said. "He told me to work three pitches for strikes and that's what I did. The changeup worked real well."
Driscoll (2-3) didn't do itself any favors early in the game. Four of its six errors came in the first two innings and led to 5 unearned runs for Lisle (2-1), which hit only one ball out of the infield during that span.
The Highlanders tried to stay close by scoring twice in the first and once in the third inning, but the Lions kept padding their lead. When Jon Surber blasted a solo home run in the top of the fourth, that gave Lisle a 6-3 lead.
"That's what we've been working on in practice, just being aggressive at the plate," said Lisle coach Pete Meyer. "You saw that early on. Then we started hitting the ball hard and we got in a groove."
Driscoll's Rick DiVito, who went 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored, answered with his own solo homer. The Highlanders added 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull within 9-6.
But when Lisle's Ryan Liss scored on a walk and three wild pitches in the top of the seventh, that set the stage for the 10-6 final. Osika struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to give him 10 strikeouts for the game.
Seven players accounted for Lisle's 8 hits. Nick Thome went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Mike Romito had a pair of hits for Driscoll.
"We can hit a little bit, but we need to pitch and play defense," said Driscoll coach Sean Bieterman. "We're in a little bit of a mental funk right now. I think we're talented, but we've got a lot of work to do to get out of this funk."
BOX SCORE
Lisle 10, Driscoll 6
Lisle 140 112 1 -10-8-4
Driscoll 201 012 0 -6-7-6
2B: L: Kolosky; D: Abernathy.
HR: L: Surber; D: Divito.
WP: Osika (2-0); LP: Conti (0-1).