Glenbard North turns to Rachal for stop
There is an old baseball adage that says you are only as good as tomorrow's starting pitcher.
Luckily for Glenbard North, lefty Kyle Rachal was on the hill following a conference-opening loss. His arm and the Panthers' offense proved how fundamentally sound Glenbard North can be in a 4-2 victory over Naperville North on Tuesday afternoon in Naperville.
Rachal went the distance for the Panthers (8-4, 1-1), scattering nine hits, striking out four and allowing no extra-base hits over seven innings in a nip-and-tuck game full of small ball on a day when the wind was howling in from left field.
The few times Rachal did get into trouble, he wriggled out of it nicely. Most notably he got out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.
"We wanted to come back today after yesterday's loss hungry and we were today," Rachal said. "When the offense executes it takes more pressure off me."
Glenbard North executed three sacrifice bunts on the afternoon, with all three leading to a run scored. The Panthers were also able to score two runs on wild pitches, keeping the pressure on the Huskies' infielders all afternoon.
"Certainly one of the biggest differences was they ended up getting some bunts down and that played a role," Naperville North coach Carl Hunckler said. "I thought both teams overall hit the ball pretty hard. We hit the ball harder in the air, but they hit the ball harder on the ground, and on a day like today, you put the ball on the ground and it's going to find some holes."
Panthers leadoff man Ryan Sabalaskey was the catalyst for Glenbard North, as he singled twice and was successfully bunted over to second by left fielder Ryan Broviak both times, leading to Glenbard North tallies.
"We executed a couple of times today as far as getting sacrifice bunts down," Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko said. "We did leave a lot of guys on base and very easily could've given ourselves a little bit more of a cushion, but we'll take it."
The Panthers did leave 10 runners on base, but they cashed in when they needed it the most. Their small-ball mentality became even more crucial considering the conditions.
"With the wind blowing in like this we were looking to put the ball on the ground, hit line drives and be ready to bunt guys over as many times as possible to get guys in scoring position," Smelko said.
Conversely, Naperville North (8-2, 1-1) couldn't get bunts down when they needed to claw their way back into the game.
"Right now bunting is not our forte," Hunckler said. "That's an area we need to improve upon."
The Huskies' offense was led by first baseman Andrew Arenson and right fielder Paul Bloodgood, as both registered two hits and an RBI apiece, but the day belonged to Rachal and the Panthers.
"This was a big one," Smelko said. "The series is evened up and we'll go into tomorrow with a little more confidence than we had after yesterday's game."