St. Edward comeback clips Winnebago
Green grass?
Not quite. Call it green-ish at best.
A warm March breeze?
Heavens no. The baseball teams from St. Edward and Winnebago felt the sting of a light but persistent cold wind throughout their season opener at Elgin’s Wing Park on Tuesday.
In fact, other than the umpire’s cry of ‘Play ball,’ the only reminder that spring arrives within a week came in the third inning, when a lone Canadian goose swooped over third base, honked its way over the left-field fence and headed due north.
But what St. Edward’s 6-4 victory over the visiting Indians under a gray, late-winter sky may have lacked in springtime aesthetics, it made up for in drama.
The Green Wave trailed 3-0 after four hitters faced, but they stayed in the game thanks to the strong pitching of junior right-hander Luke Duffy. Senior reliever Jack Sutherland snapped a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the sixth with a 2-run double to right-center field as daylight was fading fast.
“I just wanted to poke one out to right,” said Sutherland, who entered the game in the top of the sixth in relief of Duffy. “It was a bit of a high changeup and I already had two strikes on me after fouling a couple off. I shortened up a little bit and tried to poke it to right field. It worked this time.”
“Good things happen when you make contact in baseball,” said St. Edward coach Gene Belmonte, who opened his final season as St. Edward head coach with a victory. “That was his job there, to make some contact, and he did.”
The umpires huddled and ended the game shortly after Sutherland’s double with one out in the sixth, reasoning it had grown too dark for both teams to take their respective at-bats in yet another full inning.
Duffy ended up with a no-decision after rebounding from a rocky start. The junior right-hander, who finished with a record of 5-6 last season, was touched for 3-runs in the first inning but shut down Winnebago after that.
A single, a hit batsman, a walk and a 2-run double by Winnebago senior Derek Richter staked the Indians to a 3-0 lead before Duffy could retire a batter. He then mowed down 15 of the next 16 hitters he faced, allowing only a walk. Duffy’s line: 3 earned runs on 3 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk and 1 hit batter in 5 innings pitched.
“At the start of the game, I was a little rusty with my spots,” Duffy said. “I came out a little too anxious. As the game went on I settled down a little bit and started hitting my spots. I felt good. I was getting looser as the game went on.”
The Green Wave scored their first run of the year in the second inning to pull within 3-1. Left-handed hitter Dennis Turnquist poked a two-out, two-strike pitch to left field to score courtesy runner Patrick Puckett.
St. Edward drew within 3-2 in the third inning on Duffy’s RBI double, which scored leadoff hitter Zach Brewster, who had singled.
Duffy was relieved after reaching his maximum pitch count of 85 through 5 innings. Sutherland took the mound in the sixth and allowed an unearned run that gave Winnebago a 4-2 lead, but the Green Wave rallied for 4 runs in the bottom of the inning against right-handed reliever Andy Swanson.
Catcher Derek Porto followed a dink single to right field with an RBI double that trimmed Winnebago’s lead to 4-3.
“It was tough to see because it was getting dark, but he put it right up in the zone where I could see it,” Porto said.
Pinch hitter Tyler Morawaski then sent a bouncing ball up the middle of the diamond for a hit, scoring Porto from second base with the tying run. Turnquist’s sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third for Sutherland.