CL South’s Martin no hits Dundee-Crown
Robbie Lemke might have a future in the fortune-telling industry.
Crystal Lake South’s center fielder was taking practice swings in the on-deck area in the top of the second inning alongside pitcher Nick Martin when Martin asked if the cold, biting wind made his eyes water when they were on defense.
Lemke confessed he could barely see.
“That’s real reassuring to know that my outfielders can’t see,” Martin said.
“Well, don’t let them hit it and you won’t have to worry about it,” Lemke replied, half kidding.
It was a prescient statement. Ninety minutes later the Gators were celebrating Martin’s no-hitter in a 7-0 victory over Dundee-Crown in a Fox Valley Conference victory in Carpentersville.
“I took it as a complete joke,” Martin said of the no-hit banter, “but it turned out to work for me in the end.”
“He deserved to win a game like this after some of the games he’s pitched this year,” Lemke said. “He’s had some games where he pitched good and we didn’t come out on top.”
Martin — who spread the credit around to catcher Dom Winiecki and pitching coach Chuck Ahsmann, who called pitches from the dugout — walked Jake Romano with two outs in the first inning and again with one out in the seventh. Otherwise, the only Charger to reach base was Steve Schwartz, who was safe on an error with one out in the fourth inning.
Martin finished with 8 strikeouts, and he capped the gem by coaxing a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of D-C’s cleanup hitter to end the game. It was the first no-hitter for a CL South pitcher since Easton Kowalski no hit Grayslake North last season.
“This kid was really a great pitcher,” Romano said. “His curveballs, the speed difference was remarkable. And they’re hitting was really good. They just shot the gaps. We just weren’t ready to come out and play, I guess.”
The Gators scored single runs in the first and fourth innings on RBI singles by Chris Hauser before they broke the game open with a 4-run fifth inning. Jeremy DeJesus made it 3-0 courtesy of his RBI groundout, but the big blow was Ryan Price’s two-out, 2-run single up the middle on a 2-0 fastball from Dundee-Crown starting pitcher Tyler Gross (2-1).
“Our coaches do a really good job of preparing us for different situations,” said Price, who also doubled and scored twice. “I was just looking for a pitch I could drive and that was it.”
Martin capped the 4-run outburst with a run-scoring blooper just out of the reach of the diving Romano in shallow center.
Max Meitzler, who doubled in the fifth inning, hit a solo home run to right-center field in the sixth to cap the scoring for Crystal Lake South (8-4, 4-3).
The loss snapped a 5-game winning streak for Dundee-Crown (8-7, 5-2), which hadn’t played since April 14 due to rain. The Chargers had scored 43 runs during their 5-game streak.
“(Martin) threw the ball real well and shut down some hot bats,” D-C coach Jon Sawyer said. “He had us swinging backwards all day today. Every time we would attack, we’d swing at a ball and when we’d sit back, he’d groove a strike.”