Benet comes through in relief for Sanderson

After firing seven shutout innings with 15 strikeouts, Benet starting pitcher Chris Sanderson turned over the game to his teammates in the eighth.

“You've got to trust your teammates and the relief pitching that they're going to come in and keep it going,” he said.

The Redwings didn't let him down.

Benet scored twice in the top of the eighth and reliever Greg Arend capped the shutout in the bottom of the inning to preserve the Redwings' 2-0 win at Downers Grove North.

Sanderson and Trojans starter David Wilk locked in a pitchers' duel for seven innings before Benet (2-2) finally broke through against reliever Troy Southard.

“It's fun going toe-to-toe with the other pitcher,” Sanderson said. “It's fun going back and forth and competing like that.”

A walk by Arend started the top of the eighth, leading to a sacrifice by Billy Tumpane and Chris Whelan's RBI single that scored pinch runner Chris Seiboldt. Chris Stout then added some insurance by lacing a run-scoring double to left-center field.

Arend allowed a leadoff double to Joe Provenzano in the bottom of the eighth, but two strikeouts and a popout ended the game and gave Benet pitchers 17 strikeouts on the day. Wilk allowed only 2 hits while striking out five.

“We had some opportunities, but it was a matter of who was going to execute,” said Downers North coach Chad Isaacson. “They came up in the eighth and executed. It's as simple as that. When you have well-played defensive games and pitchers with presence on the mound, you've got to execute in key situations.”

Downers North (1-2) stranded four runners in scoring position, including in the first inning when Conner Kopach reached third with less than two outs. Sanderson, who scattered 4 hits, walked none and hit a batter, set the tone for the game by striking out the next two batters.

Wilk's defense helped keep the Redwings at bay by converting four double plays in the final five innings. Two double plays were on lineouts that caught a Redwings runner off second base.

“We were able to put it in play and we finally found some holes in the eighth inning,” said Benet coach Scott Lawler. “We've only played four games, but we've had that a lot this year where we've put the ball in play but we haven't found the holes. We did today, at least at the end of the game.”