Streamwood sweeps St. Charles North in doubleheader

It was kind of a wacky day for the Streamwood baseball team.

First, the doubleheader between the Sabres and St. Charles North, was moved to St. Charles because of an unplayable field at Streamwood, which lead to Streamwood being the "home" team on St. Charles' scoreboard.

Then, in the second game of the Upstate Eight Conference doubleheader, Streamwood (10-7-2, 8-3) was on the verge of being slaughter-ruled before rallying for a combined 10 runs in the fifth and sixth innings and pulling off an 11-10 victory.

"We capitalized on some changes they made," Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. "I thought we were going to coast to the end, he (St. Charles coach Todd Genke) thought they were going to coast to the end, but our guys started hitting and the rest is history."

In the second game, the North Stars were able to score 7 runs with two outs in the top of the fourth inning to build an 8-1 lead behind starter Zach Hirsch. Third baseman Mike Budka's three-run home run that inning seemed to blow the game open in favor of the North Stars (10-7, 5-5).

But after Hirsch retired the Sabres in order in the bottom half of the fourth, Genke pulled his starter because Hirsch was pitching on just three days rest.

"I had to have him on a short leash," Genke said of Hirsch. "We had an eight-run lead and I thought I could take him out and have a couple of the other guys come in and compete and that just didn't happen."

Genke noted that his team has six games to play in the upcoming week.

"He's been our stopper for three years, and I'm not going to overextend him," Genke said.

The first game between the two teams was a little more standard for a baseball game.

Streamwood was able to jump out to a 5-1 lead after the second inning and rolled behind junior starter Mike Diebold for a 7-2 victory. Diebold pitched all 7 innings and allowed just 5 hits while striking out 7.

"It's always a lot easier when you're pitching with a lot of cushion," Diebold said of being staked to the early lead. "You get to settle down and if someone gets on base you don't have to worry about him scoring to tie it up or something. You can just settle down and throw your game."

Diversey said Diebold has pitched well against the North Stars in the past, and that he "has North's number."

"He our No. 1, and he's that for a reason," Diversey said. "He keeps the ball down and away, and he's got good command of all of his pitches."

Shortstop and leadoff hitter Ryan Kiesel was the spark plug for the Sabres in Game 1, going 2-for-2 and drawing 2 walks in addition to scoring 2 runs.