Cocat, Panthers keep coming back against Wheaton Warrenville South
Judging by Glenbard North's first inning, you never could have expected the Panthers' next five trips to the plate.
Overcoming poor baserunning decisions right off the bat, Glenbard North's baseball team put together an overall solid effort to beat Wheaton Warrenville South 5-2 in Monday's DuPage Valley Conference game in Carol Stream.
The game began ominously in the first inning for the Panthers (9-11, 3-9), who had runners on first and second with nobody out but came away with nothing after getting doubled up on an infield fly rule when the runners tried to advance on a dropped pop up.
They learned their lesson, however, and proceeded to score in four of the last five innings. Glenbard North thrived at taking advantage of opportunities, which allowed sophomore pitcher Andrew Bergmann (3-2) to finish off a complete-game performance.
Panthers senior shortstop Steve Cocat drove in 3 runs, smacking a go-ahead 2-run double in the third inning and adding a fifth-inning sacrifice fly for insurance.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak and helped the Panthers creep back toward the .500 mark.
"If we give ourselves a chance, we have as good a shot as anyone to win the game," Cocat said. "We all know our capabilities, and from the start of the season we knew we had the chance to do great things. We still have that chance, we just have to keep believing in it and keep going strong."
WW South (13-8, 7-5) took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on run-scoring singles by Robert Grabek and Taylor Rhoades. But after sending eight batters to the plate that inning, the Tigers - who managed only four baserunners the rest of the game - couldn't get anything else going.
"We couldn't string anything together," said Tigers coach Tim Brylka. "They were executing and we weren't. That was the difference."
It began for the Panthers with Cocat's 2-run double that put them ahead to stay at 3-2. Cocat's sacrifice fly made it 4-2 and then Nick Mishevich singled home the fifth run.
That was plenty for Bergmann, who struck out three, walked one and scattered 8 hits. Tigers sophomore Jason Schuman (1-3) also pitched well in 5 innings of work despite taking the loss.
"I'm very happy with the way we played today," said Panthers coach Mike Franzen. "We played this way earlier in the year, and you wish you could come out here every day and play this way. But we've just got to come out and keep working at it."