Rhoades, Wheaton Warrenville South prevail

As Wheaton Warrenville South’s baseball team built a lead without a hit, it just seemed like the Tigers’ day.

Having Jeremy Rhoades on the mound didn’t hurt, either.

The interesting combination carried WW South to a 4-2 victory over Glenbard East in a DuPage Valley Conference opener Monday in Wheaton.

The Tigers (5-5, 1-0) didn’t manage a hit until Rhoades laced an RBI single in the fifth inning that drove in Parker Ryndak to put his team ahead 4-1.

That was plenty of cushion for Rhoades, a senior right-hander who scattered 4 hits, struck out seven and walked three in a complete-game effort.

“We always start out slow with hitting, but I know we’re going to come around eventually,” Rhoades said. “I don’t really worry too much about it on the mound. I just go out and try to do my job no matter what the score is.”

Glenbard East (3-7, 0-1) struck first for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Jon Morris tripled and came home on Chris Milligan’s RBI single.

The Tigers tied it in the second inning on 2 errors and a wild pitch. An errant pickoff throw in the fourth inning brought home 2 runs for WW South to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead without a hit off Rams starter Jon Lindstrom.

“That’s kind of been the story for us, we’ve been in every game,” said Glenbard East coach John Walters. “Unfortunately we’re not scoring enough runs to win games. My heart goes out to our guys because they’re working their tails off.”

Glenbard East narrowed the gap to 4-2 in the sixth inning on Milligan’s fielder’s choice that scored Morris. Rhoades, however, escaped further damage when he started his second 1-6-3 double play of the game.

Rhoades surrendered his fourth hit with one out in the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate, but his sixth and seventh strikeouts preserved the win.

Each side scraped together 4 hits, but 3 unearned runs on 3 errors made the difference for WW South, which committed a harmless third-inning error.

“Our bats are very inconsistent,” said Tigers coach Tim Brylka. “We busted out on Saturday for a big game, but other than that we’re still scuffling a bit at the plate. Pitching and defense is what we’ve been leaning on.”