Defense sparking red-hot Wheaton North
Dan Schoessling doesn’t have a complex explanation for the Wheaton North baseball team’s two-week hot streak.
Actually, his explanation is about as simple as it gets.
“Just kind of the usual formula for winning baseball games,” said Schoessling, Wheaton North’s coach. “You’ve got to be able to pitch and play defense. Over the last two weeks that’s what we’ve been able to do.”
Call it the Falcons’ not-so-secret formula.
Wheaton North (11-6, 5-0 DuPage Valley) is 7-1 in its last eight games, morphing from a disappointing sub-.500 club into one of the hottest teams in the conference. The pitching staff has been solid — allowing just 4.12 runs per game during that stretch — but the real key might be the rapid improvement of the Falcons’ previously porous defense.
Wheaton North has made more than two errors just twice in its last eight games. The Falcons have made one error or fewer in their past three contests, including a 2-1 win over West Chicago on Tuesday.
Compare that to the four-game losing skid the Falcons endured to close March and open April, during which they committed 14 errors — including five in a 3-2 loss to Butler in Louisville, Ky.
“It just seems like when our pitchers are on. It’s mainly because our defense is fielding the ball well and we’re not giving (the other team) extra outs,” Schoessling said. “We were not fielding the ball really well during that four-game skid that we hit. Allowing teams to kind of turn over their batting order, I think, is what was hurting us.”
The Falcons — led by senior Jake Schieber and junior John Peltz — have been the ones turning over their batting order of late, putting up 9.13 runs per game since April 4. Schieber is batting .423 with a team-best 3 home runs, 12 extra-base hits and 22 RBI. Peltz is batting .393 with 13 RBI and blasted his first home run of the year in an 11-1 win over West Chicago Monday.
“They’ve done a good job of picking their moments, and the guys ahead of them have been getting on base,” Schoessling said. “They’ve been clutch, I think, more than anything these past two weeks.”
Dyrda dominating for Glenbard South:
Glenbard South coach Mike Riley likes to think that a difficult early-season trip to Louisville, Ky., gave his team all the confidence it needs to compete with anyone in Illinois.
Senior pitcher Roger Dyrda is giving Riley plenty of proof.
Dyrda guided Glenbard South (10-7, 5-2 Metro Suburban Conference) to a 5-2 win over Rolling Meadows (11-5) on Tuesday. He improved his record to 5-1 with the complete-game effort, striking out six batters without allowing an earned run.
“He really had his offspeed stuff going tonight,” Riley said. “I think today was as sharp as he’s been. ... He really had them guessing.”
That’s been a common theme for hitters facing Dyrda.
He’s pitched 332⁄3 innings this season, posting a 2.50 ERA and 23 strikeouts against only seven walks. His credits include wins over Glenbard North, Rolling Meadows and Riverside-Brookfield, and his only loss came during Glenbard South’s 1-3 trip to Kentucky.
Riley said Dyrda’s biggest asset is his ability to help his cause on defense.
“He’s very athletic,” Riley said. “He plays right field when he doesn’t pitch, so he’s fielding some balls on the mound that with a lot of our other pitchers might’ve been going through to center field for some basehits.”