Bergmann shuts out WW South
Just like his team as a whole, Glenbard North ace pitcher Andrew Bergmann has seen his share of ups and downs this season.
Monday was definitely an up day.
The Panthers continued to stalk first place in the DuPage Valley Conference baseball standings, scoring a pivotal 5-0 victory at Wheaton Warrenville South.
Bergmann improved to 6-2 by scattering 8 hits in an 84-pitch complete game. The tall right-hander struck out seven and walked none while bearing down in key situation to escape a few jams.
Combined with Wheaton North’s win over Naperville North, the Panthers (16-8, 10-5) remain a half-game behind the Falcons in the win column. They move a half-game ahead of Naperville Central in the win column as all three front-runners sit with five DVC losses.
“He’s had his ups and downs this year, but this was a good day for him,” Panthers coach Rich Smelko said of Bergmann. “A lot of times he’s pitched this year he hasn’t really been supported that well by the offense. With a 3-run lead for him, he’s tough to beat.”
The Panthers staked Bergmann to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning after 3 straight hits and an error drove in a run and Mark Ng came through with a 2-run single.
Ryan Gallagher added insurance with a two-out, 2-run single in the seventh inning. That was plenty of support for Bergmann, who stranded seven runners on base.
“It’s always nice to get ahead, especially against a good team like that that’s right behind us in the conference,” Bergmann said. “It definitely calmed me down after that first inning.”
One-out singles by Zach Jarosz and Steve Lemm, who went the distance on the mound for WW South, in the bottom of the first set up the Tigers (13-12, 9-7) for a big start. Bergmann, however, struck out the next two batters to emerge unscathed.
WW South put two runners on base in the third and seventh innings, but a double play ended the first threat and Bergmann’s seventh strikeout ended the game.
“If we would have just gotten one early on, we might have competed a little bit more,” said WW South coach Tim Brylka. “We would have been right there.”