Bison's Zalecki brings home split
On the mound and at the plate, Fenton's John Zalecki wanted the game in his hands.
Coming through on both fronts, the junior pitcher helped the Bison salvage a split of a Metro Suburban Conference baseball doubleheader against Riverside-Brookfield in Bensenville.
After the Bulldogs claimed a 10-4 victory in Game 1, Zalecki and Fenton rallied for an 8-4 win in the second game to open the MSC season.
"A lot of our relievers have been doing great, but I really wanted to finish it myself," Zalecki said of his gutty complete-game effort. "I felt great, my arm was feeling fine. This was pretty much the best game I've ever had."
It started on the mound in Game 2, where Zalecki struck out nine while enduring 8 hits and 3 walks. Three errors also struck in the last two innings as the Bison (2-6, 1-1) nursed a lead. Still, Zalecki pitched strong late to keep the Bulldogs (4-7, 1-1) scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings.
Fenton took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Ian Wallace drew a bases-loaded walk and Buddy Larsen and Drake Sabia laced RBI singles. Riverside-Brookfield tied it in the top of the fifth sparked by Matt Scott's 2-run single, but Zalecki got his lead right back with a 2-run double.
As the Bison yearned for insurance with a 6-4 lead, Danny Stevens responded in the sixth with a towering 2-run home run to boost the advantage to 8-4. Stevens went 3-for-4 and scored 3 runs in the second game as Fenton's bats collectively came alive in a 9-hit effort.
"The second game was a game to build on," said Fenton coach Sam Gallucci. "Good pitching, and decent pitching in the first game, too. But in the second game John Zalecki did great and we got some timely hits. We put it all together."
The opener started well for Fenton, which took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the first after coaxing 6 walks and getting a timely 3-run double from Alex Miles. Unfortunately for Fenton, though, that was the first of only 2 hits in the game.
After the rough first inning, Bulldogs starter Alex Brown (2-0) settled down for the complete-game 10-4 win. The junior lefty retired 10 straight at one point.
"It's good that we got at least one of these and split with Fenton," said Bulldogs coach Mike Ziroli. "We were coming in on a five-game losing streak so it was nice to get that one win. It would have been nice to get both of them, but we'll take the one."
BOX SCORES
Riverside-Brookfield 10, Fenton 4
R-B 201 321 1 -10-10-0
Fenton 400 000 0 -4-2-6
2B: R-B: VandeMerkt 2, Scott, Ruge, Marra; F: Miles.
3B: F: Mach.
WP: Brown (2-0); LP: Stevens (0-2).
Fenton 8, Riverside-Brookfield 4
R-B 010 030 0 -4-8-0
Fenton 000 422 X -8-9-3
2B: RB: Favela; F: Zalecki, Larsen.
HR: F: Stevens.
WP: Zalecki (1-0); LP: Prihodka (1-1).