St. Francis slips past West Chicago
St. Francis baseball coach Rich Janor had plenty of reasons to be happy after Thursday’s 8-7 home win over West Chicago.
The win moved the Spartans to 3-1 overall, but just as important Janor was glad to see his entire team’s batting order contribute offensively. Every player in the lineup had at least one hit. The team finished with 12 for the game.
“It’s the first time this season that the offense has clicked on all cylinders. I know about the top of our order, but if we can get the same from the bottom of the order, we’ll be in good shape,” Janor said.
With light becoming scarce at Don Jones Field and the game tied at 7, the pressure was on St. Francis to make something happen in the bottom of the sixth.
With one out Spartans shortstop Tom Ameche walked and moved to third on a passed ball and Jack Petrando’s groundout. That brought Joshua Croci to the plate.
Strike three to him was dropped, and he beat the throw to first and that scored Ameche for the winning run. The game was called at the end of the inning because of darkness.
Also boosting the St. Francis effort was its ability to respond in the bottom of the inning to what West Chicago did offensively in the top of the inning.
“One of our philosophies, especially on our home field, is to try and answer back as quickly as possible. The guys grounded it out and we got productivity in the bottom of the order,” Janor said.
The first example of that came in the bottom of the second with West Chicago leading 3-0. Senior second baseman David Fisher, the Spartans’ No. 9 hitter, doubled to left, scoring Brett Jungles and Eric Bacon, who each had singled to reach base.
“I try to take a good two-strike approach and I was able to hit it down the line,” Fisher said.
His single in the fourth brought home the Spartans’ fifth run.
In the fifth with two out, Preston Preusser was called upon to pinch-hit in the No. 8 spot. He responded with a single that plated Petrando, who had singled, and Jungles, who had walked.
West Chicago dropped to 2-2. It was the second one-run loss of the young season for the team.
“We have to find a way to close out games. St. Francis is a good team and they don’t beat themselves,” said Wildcats coach Dan McCarthy. “We have to fight through this. We could easily be 4-0.”
The big highlight for West Chicago came in the fourth with the Wildcats down 4-3. With one out and the count 2-2, Ryan Koester blasted a three-run shot over the left-field fence.
RBI hits came earlier in the game from starting pitcher Mike Zajac and Zach Bauler.
Other key hits for St. Francis came from Lonnie Hicks, Croci and Ameche.
“We played as a team and got the job done,” Fisher said.