Ippolito's blast sends Neuqua Valley past St. Charles East
Upon his team's arrival at St. Charles East's baseball field Monday afternoon, Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner noticed the flag blowing from left field to right and talked about plate approach to his players right before the game's first pitch.
"I told our guys right off the bat that when you get up there to look for an outer half pitch and hit it that way," said Renner.
Cleanup hitter Joe Ippolito certainly took the advice to heart, as the senior clubbed an opposite-field, 3-run homer in the first inning that helped power the Wildcats (4-2, 1-1) to a 7-2 Upstate Eight Conference triumph over host St. Charles East (7-4, 1-2).
"He (Saints starting pitcher Tommy Laudadio) started me off with a fastball and I was kind of mad at myself that I didn't take it right away," said Ippolito, who has 2 home runs this season.
"He gave me a curveball that started outside and came in, and I took it to right playing with the wind."
The Wildcats chased Laudadio (1-3) with a pair of second-inning runs, thanks in part to an RBI single from Mike Bogar.
Neuqua tacked on single runs in the third and fourth and built a 7-0 lead for starting pitcher Kevin Hodgeman (1-0), who allowed 1 run and 3 hits with a pair of strikeouts over 52/3 innings.
"That was one of the better games we've played this year," said Renner, whose team had scored 39 runs in its previous three games. "I was actually surprised that we moved the ball as well as we did against their guys. I think they're a very good team."
Leadoff man Nick Oleskowicz (1-for-2, walk, hit by pitch, 3 stolen bases) and No. 2 hitter Bogar (1-for-1, 3 walks) served as the table-setters for the Wildcats, reaching base seven times in 8 at-bats while scoring 4 runs.
"Our leadoff guy was 0-for-0 Saturday with 2 walks and 2 hit by pitches," Renner said of Oleskowicz. "There's a kid who is a true baseball player. He knows how to play the game.
"He's on his own on the bases and we like to run first move on lefties. Every time he was on, he figured it out and worked his way into a good situation and he got three bags."
St. Charles East, which has lost three consecutive games, got on the board with an unearned run in the fourth before junior pinch hitter Wes Phelps smacked a solo home run to lead off the seventh.
Johnny Erickson (2-for-3, walk) and Luke Rojas (2-for-3) enjoyed multi-hit games for the Saints, while junior southpaw Dan Ditusa tossed 41/3 strong innings of relief with 5 strikeouts.
"Dan did a great job in relief," said Saints coach Dave Haskins. "That was his first varsity opportunity. This early in the season I'm giving some guys an opportunity to show me what they can do and the people who did it will be rewarded during this week or in the future."
The two-game series concludes today in Naperville.