Callahan pitches Benet to first victory

Benet's baseball team waited eight months for a performance like this.

After scuffling through 2 losses to start the season, the Redwings pulled it all together in Monday's 7-1 nonconference win over Hinsdale South in Darien.

Led by left-handed pitcher Pat Callahan's 2-hit performance over 6 innings, Benet (1-2) steadily distanced itself from the Hornets (1-2) throughout the game. Six different players drove in runs for the Redwings, highlighted by solo home runs from Nick Moore and Mike Chiaro.

Combined with a defense that stayed errorless until the seventh inning, there were few complaints in the visitor's dugout. The Redwings showed a glimpse of the talent that drove them to the summer regional championship game in July.

"Pat pitched a heck of a game and gave us exactly what we needed," said Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake. "That allowed us to relax a little bit and we got some big hits out of some guys. It's a good step in the right direction for us."

Callahan (1-1) pointed the Redwings in that direction. He struck out eight while reaching three balls on only two batters, resulting in the 2 walks he issued.

Luke Terna drove in Benet's first run with a second-inning triple, and Moore followed with his solo shot in the fourth. When Mike Chiaro homered in the fifth and Connor Reilly added a run-scoring single to boost the Redwings' lead to 4-0, Callahan had all the support he needed.

"I was throwing all three pitches for strikes and that helped keep them off-balance," Callahan said of his fastball, curveball and changeup. "I was able to throw any pitch in any count because I was always ahead."

Benet extended its lead to 7-0 in the top of the seventh inning on R.J. Gatto's sacrifice fly and Sam Santa Maria's 2-run double.

Andrew Jachna, Reilly and Terna each had 2 hits for Benet. Hinsdale South managed only 4 hits, one apiece from Matt Perez, P.J. Schuster, Joe Kerr and Adam Schwarz.

The Hornets threatened in the bottom of the seventh by loading the bases with no outs, but Benet reliever Scott Dawson escaped from the jam with only 1 unearned run scoring.

"We didn't have a good approach up there at the plate," said Hinsdale South coach Kraig Conyer. "Their pitcher did a good job mixing in three pitches and he was able to locate all of them where he wanted to. We just didn't do a good job adjusting to him."