Hart gets plenty of support

Wheeling's baseball team showed a lot of heart Tuesday for teammate Matt Hart.

On Monday afternoon, Hart, a sophomore, was pitching when he was hit in the face with a line drive at Elk Grove. He was taken by ambulance to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove a broken orbital bone and nose and needed eight stitches above his right eye.

But Hart, who suffered a concussion but never lost consciousness, delivered a simple message to his teammates through his dad before Wheeling's Mid-Suburban League crossover with Hoffman Estates.

"We got all the kids together and he gave us an update," said Wheeling coach Mike Tice of Hart's dad, who also has a daughter who plays soccer at Wheeling. "He told them, 'Matt said one other thing - kick their butts.'

"We didn't do that -"

But Wheeling (3-23, 2-10) did win for nearly the first time in a month as Steve Yfantis threw a complete-game 6-hitter for a 6-3 victory. Yfantis, who recently missed 11 days because of illness, also went 2-for-3 as did teammate Kevin Kowynia.

"It was so nice for the kids," Tice said. "I'm so happy for them."

Tice also visited Hart on Tuesday night at Alexian Brothers. He said Hart can recognize light in his right eye but it's blurry because there is so much swelling.

But Tice said Hart won't need any reconstructive surgery.

"He was in good spirits when I was there," Tice said. "I'm so thankful he's OK. It was just a shame. He's such a great kid."

Chris Fett went 2-for-3 for Hoffman Estates (7-18, 3-8).

Maine West 15, Highland Park 8: Steve Zimmerman and Justin Johann homered as Maine West (18-6, 8-4) pounded out 16 hits to give Josh Wright the Central Suburban North win at Highland Park.

Downers South 12, Leyden 0: Leyden (15-10, 10-5) dropped out of the lead in the West Suburban Gold with the loss.