Hirsch, St. Charles North glad to be home
Home openers don't get much better than the one St. Charles North's baseball team enjoyed Wednesday afternoon.
The North Stars (3-2) displayed a little bit of everything - superb pitching, clutch hitting, longball power and flawless defense during their 9-1 nonconference victory over Jacobs (6-6).
Senior southpaw Zach Hirsch (1-0) appeared to be in midseason form, striking out 10 while allowing a run on 4 hits in 6 innings of work before junior reliever Jared Shurtleff worked a scoreless seventh as the North Stars enjoyed their 2009 home debut.
"It feels good to see another team with a different color," said North Stars coach Todd Genke. "We've had our fair share of rainouts, cold-outs and snow-outs so it was great to be able to run onto this field for the first time this year."
The University of Nebraska-bound Hirsch was in command from the outset, giving up a one-out double to Ben Albano in the second inning before retiring the next 11 batters - 7 of them coming on strikeouts.
"I felt great," said Hirsch. "Warming up, I was keeping the ball down and then it just translated into the game. I was throwing all four of my pitches for strikes and keeping the ball down. Those were the keys."
By the time Hirsch gave up the Golden Eagles' only run - on Josh Kranz's sixth-inning RBI single, the North Stars had already built an 8-0 cushion.
"Zach Hirsch - he's the story," said Genke. "He's just fun to watch. He gets ahead, he challenges and he's a competitor. He had some good stuff today. His changeup was very good and when that's good, he's lights out.
"His fastball seemed to have a little bit more juice to it today as well. He was probably excited, and I don't blame him, to be able to run out here as a senior in the home opener."
Junior catcher Matt Stevens may have enjoyed the best view of Hirsch's masterful mound performance.
"He was awesome," said Stevens. "Everything was working. His curveball had a really deep bite and it threw batters off guard."
St. Charles North grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first when leadoff man Colin O'Carroll (2-for-3, 2 RBI) walked, stole second and scored on K.C. Wright's RBI single.
Stevens (3-for-3, 2 RBI) led off the second by belting a 3-2 offering from Golden Eagles starter Ricky Ames (1-1) over the left-field fence, igniting a 3-run outburst that made it 4-0.
Jordan Huxtable's 2-run sacrifice fly to deep center in the third helped the North Stars extend their lead to 6-0 before Stevens' RBI single highlighted a 2-run fifth.
"He struggled a little bit on our trip (to Marion) so it was nice to see him come out here and hit," Genke said of Stevens. "The home run was great but I was more excited to see him lace the ball to right field (in the third inning).
"If he can hit that ball the other way like that, it's only going to help him on the balls that are in that he can drive."
Ryan Richardson also had a pair of the North Stars' 10 base hits.
"I was very, very excited about the way we swung the bats today," said Genke.
With their ace on the mound, it turned out that the North Stars didn't need much.
"Zach threw real well and he threw strikes," said Jacobs coach Eric Sanders. "I don't know if we've faced anybody quite as fast as him this year."