St. Charles North trips up Streamwood
The St. Charles North baseball team really wanted this one.
After being swept by Streamwood in a doubleheader Saturday, the teams concluded the three-game series Tuesday. The North Stars pounded out 13 hits and scored 10 times in the first three innings as North took the final game of the series, 13-7, at Streamwood.
“This was big for us,” said North senior John Munyon, who was the winning pitcher and went 3-for-3 at the plate. “(It’s) a confidence booster and for conference. They (entered Tuesday) leading the conference. It’s big to get one back.”
The win keeps the North Stars (19-8, 13-5) in the Upstate Eight River Division race. Streamwood (23-3, 17-3), which had its 9-game winning streak snapped, entered Tuesday with the same number of conference loss as St. Charles East. The Saints beat Larkin on Tuesday.
“We’re still the conference champions at this point and we wanted to come over here and show that still,” North coach Todd Genke said. “I talked about the heart of a champion on the bus coming over. The kids responded.”
Munyon gave the North Stars a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the fifth. The Sabres answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the first. Richie Gorski had a 2-run home run and Bobby Post had a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
North took the lead for good in the second, scoring 7 runs on 4 hits off Sabres starter Blake Hunter (4-2). Jake Smiley had a 2-run single, Andrew Elliott followed with a 2-run double and John Brodner hit a 3-run home run.
Munyon drove in a run with a double and Brodner had a run-scoring single in the third as North took a 10-3 lead. The North Stars added single runs in the fourth, fifth and six innings. The run in the fifth was a home run from Elliot, who went 3-for-5 and drove in 3 runs. Smiley, Broder and Jake Johansmeier each had 2 hits for North.
Munyon (5-0) threw 5 innings, allowing 9 hits and 7 runs — all earned. The senior right-hander walked two and struck out four.
“He gave up three runs early and I kind of got on him a little bit,” Genke said. “I said, ‘You need to compete. You’re a senior and it’s a big spot for us and we need you.’ He came back and showed us that he is, at this point, our best pitcher.”
The Sabres also hit 3 home runs, getting a 2-run shot from Nate Pearson in the fourth and a solo homer from Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle, who went 2-for-3 and also had a double. Pearson also had 2 hits.
“We won the series. Nobody wants to lose like we did today, but we battled back,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. “Rubber game on Friday (against St. Charles East). That’s huge. If we beat East on Friday, we’re back in the driver’s seat.”