Gordon warms to the task for Stevenson
Stevenson’s Zach Gordon had an unconventional formula for pitching a shutout.
Allow the leadoff batter in each inning to get on base, but nobody else.
It worked for Gordon on Thursday, as the junior righty allowed only 3 hits to lead the Patriots past visiting Fremd 10-0 in a nonconference game that lasted five innings.
“I probably didn’t warm up enough or quickly enough,” said Gordon, who recorded his first victory of the season. “The cold was getting to me. Once their first batter got on, I was nice and warm and was able to get through the rest of the hitters.”
Fremd’s Zack Kolakowski led off the game with a double. Matt Wisnewski started off the second with a single, and Kolakowski began the third a single.
Gordon allowed leadoff walks in the final two innings.
In all 5 innings, Viking runners were stranded. Gordon struck out the side in the second.
“The first couple of innings were a result of him being up in the zone, and (Fremd) made him pay,” said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca, whose Patriots improved to 6-0. “The last couple of times, he sat a long time and came out and walked the batters on four straight pitches. But he did a nice job of changing his speeds to get the outs.”
Stevenson pounded out 11 hits. Michael Martin smacked 3 doubles and scored twice, while Max Golembo went 3-for-3 with an RBI double and run-scoring single and scored 2 runs.
“Today, I was actually hitting the ball well,” Golembo said. “I was able to get the bunt down in my first at-bat and it got me going. I was seeing the ball well. They were throwing a lot of fastballs and was able to drive the ball.
“We’ve been hitting the ball well our first six games,” Golembo added. “Even in the cold weather, our bats are still heating up.”
With one out in the top of the fifth, Golembo made the defensive play of the day to preserve the shutout.
Fremd’s Clint Herdegen led off with a walk, stole second and reached third on a fielder’s choice.
Kolakowski hit a groundball right at third baseman Golembo. Instead of going for the sure out at first, Golembo threw a perfect strike to catcher Ryan Jensen, who threw back to Golembo, who ran down Herdegen and tagged him out.
After scoring one run in the first and two in the second, the Patriots broke the game open with a 5-run, 5-hit third inning.
Steve Galanopoulos led off with a walk, Jacob Sholl doubled, and Golembo knocked both runners in with a double. Three batters later, Anthony D’Angelo drove a 2-run single to right, and Martin followed with his first double, a grounder down the left-field line that plated two.
Stevenson scored two more in the fourth and one in the fifth.
Fremd starting pitcher Jack Anderson, the first of three Viking pitchers, took the loss. He gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings. He walked only one batter.
“We played terrible,” said Fremd coach Chris Piggott, whose team fell to 3-5. “We couldn’t throw strikes consistently and we didn’t swing the bats well at all. Our pitchers aren’t throwing their off-speed stuff for strikes. We had to rely on pitching fastballs, and most high school kids can hit a fastball.”
After beating Libertyville twice this week, Mazzuca was afraid of a letdown.
“This was huge,” Mazzuca said. “After beating our conference rival twice, we changed up the lineup a little bit. Some players got an opportunity to play and they came through.”