Dundee-Crown hits way past Hersey

The Dundee-Crown baseball players and coaches know the team is going to be able to hit.

And the Chargers don’t want to wait until the weather warms up to show it.

D-C scored 4 runs in both the fifth and sixth innings Tuesday to defeat Hersey, 11-6, in nonconference action in Carpentersville.

“We’re a good-hitting team. This is what we are all capable of doing,” said D-C senior Nick Spagnola, who had 4 RBI. “Every day there is new hero. One through nine, we all can smash the ball.”

The Chargers (2-1) only had one extra-base hit, an one-out double by Scott Nowicke to get the 4-run fifth going. D-C, which led 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, got six consecutive batters on base. With the bases loaded, Spagnola had a 2-run single and a third run scored on the play on a Hersey error. Spagnola scored on a Corey Volberding bunt single on a squeeze play.

In the sixth, Spagnola drove in another run with a bases-loaded single. Dylan Kissack drove in a run and two other runs scored on Hersey errors as the Chargers took an 11-2 lead.

“I think we kept on having good approaches offensively,” Chargers coach Jon Sawyer said. “Even the early innings, we were making outs, but we were taking the right approach and looking for the right pitches. I think it just paid off eventually. It usually does.”

The Huskies (2-2) scored four times in the top of the seventh to make the final score respectable. Four of Hersey’s 7 hits came the final inning.

“We didn’t do much of anything today,” Huskies coach Bob Huber said. “We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t hold runners on. We played terrible defense. We didn’t execute. We didn’t get a bunt down. There is nothing real positive I can take from this at all.”

Joe Perricone (1-1) suffered the loss. The senior right-hander went 4 innings, allowed 2 hits and 3 runs, 2 earned. He walked three, hit one and struck out three.

Tyler Gross (1-0) made his season debut for the Chargers in relief and earned the victory. The junior right-hander allowed just 1 hit in 3 innings. He struck out four, walked one and hit a batter.

“I felt pretty good,” Gross said. “I was throwing strikes and working the counts pretty good.”