Oakton prevails at Harper

Home wasn’t any kinder to Harper.

After having last week’s regularly scheduled home baseball game moved to Oakton Community College to take advantage of better playing conditions, the teams were finally able to play at Harper on Wednesday.

Oakton (14-8-1) entered the contest having won 9 of its last 10. They continued their sound play, beating the Hawks 11-4.

“Any time you beat a good team like Harper, you have to take it,” Raiders coach Bill Fratto said.

Oakton broke the game open in the third inning, scoring 3 runs. They added 3 more in the fourth and a single run in the fifth to spot starter Kane Hernandez (Maine West) a 7-0 lead.

Two runs came off wild pitches by Hawks pitcher Tyler Tureck (Barrington). He lasted 4 innings, surrendering 7 runs.

The Harper offense, however, was unable to capatilize on its opportunities. The Hawks (4-10) had their chances, as Heriberto Ortega (walk), Ricky Jankowich (walk), Bobby Beelen (dropped third strike) and Chad Wickless (Rolling Meadows) all reached base in the first four innings.

“We have to hit. That’s all there is to it,” said Hawks coach Cliff Brown.

The Harper offense was able to plate 2 runs in the eighth and 2 in the ninth for their only runs of the game.

Fratto was happy with the pitching efforts of Hernandez and reliever Riley Perry (Geneva).

“The pitchers were pretty outstanding today,” Fratto said. “Where just going to try to keep going and finish strong.”