Wheaton Academy shows its patience

Wheaton Academy didn't come close to playing its best defense Thursday afternoon against Timothy Christian.

Good thing the Warriors brought their patience at the plate.

Wheaton Academy's lineup capitalized on 11 walks and a hit batsman and starting pitcher Jonathan Burdett overcame three first-inning errors to send the Warriors to a 13-5 victory in West Chicago.

Three of the first five Timothy Christian batters to face Burdett reached on an error. Third baseman Nathan Tameling notched the only hit in the inning for the Trojans, lacing a single to center field before scoring the first of three Trojans runs in the inning.

"Defensively, we just didn't play very well," Wheaton Academy coach Willie Bosque said. "We're going to have to get better defensively, because - somewhere along the line you're going to face somebody that can throw, and he's going to shut the offense down."

Wheaton Academy (7-7) began its comeback in the bottom of the second. Three straight Warriors drew walks against Trojans sophomore Chris Ridolphi before catcher Jonathan Fink's single to left field trimmed the deficit to 3-1.

The home team seized the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, as back-to-back RBI singles from Ryan Dzingel and Tate Fritz gave Wheaton Academy a 5-3 lead. Five runs in the bottom of the fifth broke the game open for the Warriors before a 3-run sixth inning put the Trojans (0-7) out of reach.

A pair of 3-run homers highlighted both innings, with sophomore Drew Sandberg launching his first home run in the fifth and Fritz's sixth blast of the year following an inning later.

"I just saw it go over the fence," a smiling Sandberg said of his personal milestone. "I was just running through, going pretty fast, and didn't slow down. My heart was racing pretty fast."

The late offensive explosion finally allowed Burdett to relax on the mound and improve his record to 3-1.

"I always go out there just to throw strikes and let my guys make the plays in the field," Burdett said. "I can really trust these guys, and we've just got to come out and not make the same mistakes."

The nonconference outing gave Trojans coach Jim Snoeyink an opportunity to pitch a pair sophomores, and although the control wasn't there, he was glad to get some game experience under their belts.

"It was good for them to get some innings in," Snoeyink said of Ridolphi and reliever Matt Robinson. "For both of them it was good to get a lot of pitches in, because we're going to need them."