Willowbrook falls to Downers South

Downers Grove South’s baseball team didn’t need to be perfect on Tuesday.

The Mustangs simply had to be opportunistic.

Scoring only unearned runs on 5 errors, Downers South beat visiting Willowbrook 7-2 in the finale of their three-game West Suburban Gold series.

Despite playing the entire series without Louisville-bound ace Nick Burdi, who has been sick with the flu, the Mustangs (7-5, 2-1) still managed to take two out of three games from Willowbrook (7-4, 4-2).

“We needed to bounce back, and I think we did,” said Mustangs senior Matt Wivinis, a Kansas State recruit who helped his team split Saturday’s doubleheader with Willowbrook by pitching a 3-hit shutout.

“We came out with a lot of energy,” he said. “When we can pounce on other teams’ mistakes and get a couple of early runs that really helps. We want to turn their mistakes into our runs.”

Wivinis drove in a run in each of his three trips to the plate. Sacrifice flies created the first 2 runs as the Mustangs seized a 3-1 lead after Vanek’s RBI single in the bottom of the third. Wivinis then doubled home a run during Downers South’s 4-run fifth inning that gave Vanek some insurance runs.

Three Willowbrook errors opened the door for the Mustangs’ 4-run inning, a burst that included an RBI single by Andrew Hietpas.

“We’re just inexperienced, and I really think that’s a big part of it,” said Willowbrook coach Vic Wisner. “We’re young, and when we make one mistake it turns into a second mistake. We’ve made the plays, but our inexperience shows every once in a while.”

Both of Willowbrook’s runs were unearned as well, starting with Dom Battaglia’s run on a fielder’s choice in the first inning that gave the Warriors a brief 1-0 lead. Nick Petruzzi’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly accounted for the second run.

Battaglia and Dan Fahlgren had 2 hits apiece for Willowbrook, which outhit Downers South 9-5.

“They hit the ball hard, they can swing the bat a little bit,” said Downers South coach Darren Orel. “It got a little sloppy and they kicked it around a little bit, but I think ultimately we got the hits when we needed to get them today, which was a good sign.”