Glenbard North wins pitchers’ duel

Wednesday afternoon’s Glenbard North at Glenbard East baseball game definitely goes into the pitchers’ duel file.

The Panthers (10-7, 5-1 DuPage Valley Conference) prevailed in the rubber game of the series with a 2-1 victory with the pitching of Bryan Polowy leading the way. He went the distance, allowing seven hits and striking out six.

“I thought Bryan threw exceptionally well,” said Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko. “He stayed ahead of the hitters, threw three pitches for strikes and got the big outs when we needed the big outs.”

A two-out single to right by Glenbard East’s Greg Ludwig in the fourth that scored Mike Hansen for the Rams’ only run was the lone hit that Polowy gave up that did any damage.

“I felt good. The team came through with early run support and that just makes it easier to pitch,” Polowy said. He had been out with a rib injury but returned to start Saturday and win against Wheaton Academy.

The offense that Polowy spoke of all came in the first inning.

Leadoff hitter Ken Trezek singled to left followed by a basehit by Brandon Kressner. A double by Jeff Lepage brought Trezek home and Mike Rostine’s sacrifice fly scored Kressner.

And that would be it pretty much for the Panthers offense the rest of the afternoon except for Matt Albin reaching base on an error and stealing second in the second.

Rams starting pitcher Patrick Walsh didn’t allow a hit the final six innings of the game and didn’t allow a baserunner during the final five innings. He struck out six, including the side during the fourth inning.

“Pat has been consistent all year on the mound. He was a little wild in the first. He got a couple of pitches up. But he shut them down after that,” said Glenbard East coach Joel Pelland.

Glenbard East (10-9, 2-4) had runners in scoring position during five innings but left them stranded, including the biggest hit of the game from the Rams, D.J. Spears’ one-out triple in the fifth.

“This is a game we should have won. We didn’t execute when we needed to. When we had runners in scoring position or needed to get guys in scoring position, we didn’t get it done,” Pelland said.

Both teams resume DVC play Monday. Glenbard East starts a series at Wheaton North, and Glenbard North plays host to West Aurora.

“It’s still pretty early, but we’re off to a good start,” Smelko said. “What’s going to keep us in games is our three starting pitchers (Polowy, Matt Albin, Matt Frawley). They give us a chance to win as long as we play good defense behind them.”