Prose, St. Charles East slam St. Charles North
When opportunity knocked Tuesday afternoon, Evan Prose delivered in grand fashion.
Thrust into the role as designated hitter due to an injury to shortstop Ryan Sotern (wrist, day-to-day), Prose belted his first career grand slam as part of an 8-run first inning and later added a double to help lift St. Charles East (16-7, 10-4) to a 10-7 victory over visiting St. Charles North (19-4, 11-3) in Upstate Eight Conference baseball action.
"He just took on the DH role last week because Sotern was hurt and we moved our DH (Luke Rojas) to shortstop," said Saints coach Dave Haskins. "Since becoming our DH, he has taken some good approaches (at the plate)."
None better than the one he had in the game's opening inning when he drilled relief pitcher Jake Johansmeier's first pitch over the left-center fence into the teeth of a gusting wind.
"I was definitely thinking first-pitch fastball," said Prose, a backup catcher/first baseman who has grown to enjoy the DH role. "I like the spot - any way I can contribute to the team.
"We hit batting practice before every game and try to stay sharp, and whenever Coach (Haskins) calls your name be ready to take advantage of that. It felt really good off the bat and when I was rounding first I was about as excited as you could be."
Things began ominously for the Saints, who fell behind 3-0 after half an inning of play thanks to an RBI double from Mike Budka and a run-scoring bloop single off the bat of Kevin Borst.
Borst (4-3), however, failed to retire a batter during a nightmarish bottom half of the frame that included 4 walks, a hit batsman and a pair of doubles.
"He probably was a little too juiced up," said North Stars coach Todd Genke, "but you cannot give up 8 runs, especially after we score 3 in the top half of the inning.
"As a pitcher, you've got to be a stopper in that situation. You can't give them life and unfortunately we did that. It's a microcosm of how you get beat in high school baseball - walks, hit batsmen, a couple of errors and a lot of baserunners."
In addition to Prose's grand slam, the Saints' first-inning eruption included walks to T.J. Travis, Johnny Erickson, Ryan O'Dell and Tommy Konrad (2-for-3), an RBI double from Robert Wendt (3-for-4, 3 doubles, 2 RBI), and a 2-run double by Rojas (2-for-4). Tony Rallo also drove in a run after being hit by a pitch.
"They responded and it was good to see," said Haskins, whose team snapped the North Stars' 8-game winning streak. "I thought our batters did a nice job of not swinging at balls above their hands and being patient."
Wendt, who had a pair of first-inning doubles and a run-scoring, 2-base hit in the third, gunned down a runner at the plate from center field in the second and later came on to record the save with 1 1/3 scoreless innings of work.
"I enjoy being the closer," said Wendt, who struck out back-to-back hitters with runners on second and third and 1 out to preserve the Saints' 3-2 victory over Lake Park last Saturday. "I love the pressure situations."
Tommy Laudadio added an RBI single in the third for theSaints, who finished with 11 hits - 6 for extra bases, 6 walks and a hit batsman in support of senior southpaw Konrad (5-2), who battled through the first 5 2/3 innings with 4 strikeouts, 2 walks and 4 hit batsmen.
The 3-game series resumes today at St. Charles North.
"We just ran out of innings offensively," said Genke, whose team remains atop the UEC race after South Elgin's 6-5 loss to Lake Park Tuesday. "I'm awfully proud of the way we battled back."