Glenbard South looks terrific in conference tune-up
It’s time for the first major milestone of the baseball season.
Area teams have either started conference play or soon will, and host Glenbard South and Lisle were no exception as they did battle Monday afternoon.
The Raiders certainly look ready for today’s 4:30 p.m. Metro Suburban Conference opener against visiting Riverside-Brookfield after collecting 9 hits as starting pitcher Tony Tenuta threw a 1-hit, complete game shutout with the Raiders winning 10-0 in 5 innings.
“I think with Illiana Christian, Riverside-Brookfield, we should compete for the conference championship,” said Glenbard South coach Mike Riley. Also helping the Raiders (5-3) in recent days was their annual spring break trip to Louisville, Kent.
“We had three losses in Kentucky, but they were against three of the top 10 teams in Kentucky — the No. 3, No. 6 and No. 7 teams. They were all close games. We beat the No. 13 team,” Riley said.
The Raiders believe that all aspects of their game need to contribute if they are to have success in the Metro Suburban.
“We’ve played a lot of good teams early on. We’ve had good defense, good pitching and good hitting, three solid aspects of the game,” said senior Zach Bava, who had 2 hits including an RBI single in the 4-run fourth inning.
Tenuta, who struck out four, allowed just a single to Lisle’s Ty Howell in the first and the Lions went down in order the rest of the game. Tenuta also drove in what turned out to be the winning run during the second.
Bava led off with a single to right. After Justin Joseph reached out a fielder’s choice, Tenuta sent an 0-2 pitch to right to bring home Bava.
South broke the game open in the fourth. Bava’s second hit of the day was an RBI single, but the big hit came from right fielder Roger Dyrda. With a full count, he doubled to right, clearing the bases and making it a 5-0 game.
“We definitely focus on trying to hit to the opposite field. I was just able to connect where the pitch was,” Dyrda said.
The Raiders made it 7-0 in the fourth. With one out, Mitch Gasbarro tripled to right and later scored on a fielding error. Afterward, Doren Blake singled to center to score Ethan Gasbarro, who had walked.
South closed out the game in the fifth with the 3 runs needed to halt the contest. Eathan Gasbarro’s RBI single, a wild pitch and a fielding error led to those final three scores.
Lisle (8-4) is fast approaching Interstate Eight Conference play. After practice today and a Wednesday home game against Aurora Central Catholic, the Lions head to Manteno on Thursday.
“That won’t be easy. Manteno is undefeated,” said Lisle coach Pete Meyer. “We’re still inconsistent. We have good enough, athletes, ballplayers. They know what to do. They just have to execute it.”