St. Charles East batters Barrington
Grinning from ear to ear, Tony Rallo appeared more than ready for a fresh start.
After a health scare cut into his junior campaign a year ago, Rallo began his senior season on a positive note with a pair of base hits and 3 RBI while helping lift St. Charles East’s baseball team to a 7-2, 6-inning victory over nonconference foe Barrington (0-1) Monday afternoon in St. Charles.
“It feels great to be back out here,” said Rallo, who laced a 3-2 pitch from Broncos starting pitcher Taylor Ward off the base of the fence in right field to drive in Jordan Hayes with the Saints’ second run of the first inning.
After Luke Rojas’ RBI single in the second, the left-handed hitting Rallo lined a 2-run single to left-center while stretching the Saints’ lead to 5-1.
“I was just trying to hit the ball hard,” said the senior first baseman. “Coach (Haskins) preaches that (opposite-field hitting) around here. That’s how we’re going to play.”
Rallo, who also snared a sixth-inning liner off the bat of Devin Gallagher and turned it into a double play, missed several games last season after being diagnosed with pneumomediastinum.
“I tore the membrane that lines my heart and lungs in a freak accident,” said Rallo, who batted cleanup for the Saints. “I just got real stiff and couldn’t move. It was pretty scary.”
Sophomore Joe Hoscheit added an RBI single and Matt Harris drove in a sixth-inning run with a sacrifice fly for the Saints, who played errorless defense while finishing with 9 hits and 5 stolen bases.
Leadoff man Ryan Shaffrey reached base 3 times and scored 3 runs, while Hayes added a pair of singles and scored 2 runs from the second spot in the batting order.
“We were very patient and we looked good with two strikes,” Haskins said of his team’s plate approach. “We hit the ball to both sides (of the field). And I was very pleased with our defense. Overall, it was a very good first game for us.”
Kansas-bound Wes Benjamin tossed 1 2/3 innings of 1-run, 2-hit ball with 3 strikeouts as the Saints’ starting pitcher was limited to 35 pitches before giving way to senior southpaw Dan Ditusa.
Ditusa (1-0) was sharp in his 2 1/3-inning stint, fanning 6 while walking 3 and allowing a run on 1 hit.
“I’ve always been that way,” Ditusa said of being a strikeout pitcher. “Control was a big part of my off-season. Last year, I had the velocity but I was flinging open (hips) once in a while and throwing it out of the zone. Coach Haskins did a great job of keeping me down in the zone and working my off-speed as well.”
“Dan threw well,” said Haskins, whose staff gave up just 3 hits while striking out 9. “He had a nice change-up and fastball and he found his breaking ball in his second inning. He’s got an opportunity (to pitch).”
Jon Martini also pitched a pair of scoreless innings of relief before the game was called after 6 innings because of darkness.
“We’ve got speed, we’re solid up the middle and our pitching staff is pretty confident,” said Haskins.
Junior Max Redpath threw 3 scoreless innings of relief for the Broncos, who came away impressed with the Saints.
“They play the game the right way,” said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko. “They’ve got decent pitching and they play defense. They’re a really good baseball team.”