Mistake-free Warren tops Vernon Hills

Score book in hand after his Warren baseball team survived some last-of-the-seventh drama at frigid Vernon Hills, coach Clint Smothers pointed to a small number in the farthest-right column.

“0.”

That's how many errors the Blue Devils committed.

“That's something I haven't seen in a while,” Smothers said with a laugh. “That was awesome.”

Before Warren's 3-2 win in Friday's North Suburban Conference crossover, Warren junior pitcher Kyle Kennedy had 0 complete games.

Not anymore.

The 5-foot-9 right-hander pitched 5 scoreless innings before Vernon Hills (17-6) got to him for solo runs in the sixth and seventh. But Kennedy gutted it out, stranding a runner on second in the sixth and the tying run at third base in the seventh to secure his second win of the season.

“At the end, I definitely was running out of a little steam,” Kennedy said. “I trusted my defense behind me, and they pulled through.”

Warren (9-10) went up 3-0 thanks to RBI doubles from Pat Kenney and Pat Temaner in the first off Cougars starter Steve Nelson and an unearned run in the sixth, thanks in part to Adam Reuss' double. But Jake Boyer's safety squeeze scored Tyler Feece in the bottom of the sixth to break Kennedy's shutout.

In the Vernon Hills seventh, MJ Crowley led off with his second single of the game. Kennedy then got his sixth strikeout, before Butler-bound Chris Marras smoked a triple into the right-center gap.

Smothers had left-hander Jason Gissendaner and righty Casey Weir warmed up and ready to pitch. But after a visit to the mound, the Blue Devils coach elected to stay with Kennedy.

“We were thinking about bringing a lefty in,” Smothers said. “But with the (potential for a) squeeze I just didn't want it to be a blind squeeze, where we couldn't see the guy break (off third).”

Vernon Hills coach Jay Czarnecki acknowledged he thought about squeezing with cleanup-hitter Austin Hagen.

Hagen flew out to center fielder Adam Glogovsky, and courtesy runner Colin Krippinger drew a throw but held at third.

“I felt like (Hagen) was going to get some good fastballs to hit early in the count,” Czarnecki said. “I wanted to let (him) swing. I then knew if we were behind in the count (Hagen) was probably going to get curveballs, and I didn't feel as comfortable squeezing with curveballs.”

Kennedy then retired Feece, who had singled in each of his last two at-bats, on another flyball to Glogovsky.

“Austin and Tyler, both guys have been hot this year,” Czarnecki said of Hagen and Feece. “They're two of our best hitters. You got to hope that things go your way in those situations, and they didn't.”

It was Kennedy's first complete game of the season, but not his longest outing. He threw 9 innings in relief against Marion on Warren's downstate trip over Spring Break.

“He did a great job for us today,” Smothers said. “He kept the hitters off-balance, and he didn't lose a lot of guys when he got behind in the count. He came back and made them put the ball in play. It's a great win for him.”

Kennedy walked two and hit two, but he was around the plate all game and didn't hesitate to throw his curveball on any count.

“I'm very confident in my curve,” Kennedy said. “It's my favorite pitch to throw.”

A Kennedy pitching well for Warren is nothing new. Kyle is the brother of former Warren star pitchers Ryan and Sean, both of whom are pitching for Valparaiso University.

“They'll be getting a phone call on the way home,” Kyle Kennedy said.

That their kid brother and his teammates played a thriller against Vernon Hills shouldn't surprise Ryan and Sean.

“We love playing (Vernon Hills),” Smothers said. “They're well-coached and it seems like it always turns out to be a great game with those guys.”