St. Charles E. clinches share of River crown
Before St. Charles East lefty Nick Huskisson got to work mowing down a dangerous St. Charles North lineup Wednesday, he had his own work to do on the mound.
Huskisson drew the letters “A” and “D” in the dirt next to him. Those are the initials of Anna Daley, a junior at St. Charles East who passed away from leukemia last week.
Huskisson, also a junior, said he drew extra strength thinking of Daley. He went out and tossed a complete game, just what the Saints needed to snap a 3-game losing streak and leave with a 3-2 victory, one that clinched a share of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division championship.
“Of course it is a little nerve-wrecking but I have to be honest, I was a little inspired by Anna Daley who recently passed from our school,” Huskisson said. “She was a real big force and motivation.”
The only runs St. Charles North (23-11, 17-7) scored came when Erik Nelson reached in the second on a hit-by-pitch and in the fourth on a walk. Huskisson allowed 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out seven in his 119-pitch effort.
St. Charles North was its own worst enemy when the North Stars squandered a bases-loaded, nobody-out rally in the second inning by getting two runners thrown out on the bases. They plated 1 run on Kurt Barbeau’s sacrifice fly but could have had several more.
“We made some baserunning mistakes that really changed the momentum,” North Stars coach Todd Genke said. “Kids just being too aggressive, trying to make a play that is not there. Sometimes when you live by that, you die by it. It wasn’t very smart at that point and just kind of deflates you a little bit.”
St. Charles East (20-10, 18-6) tied the game in the third when the North Stars committed 3 of their 5 errors. Jordan Hayes had the only hit in the inning and scored after the North Stars made back-to-back errors on the left side of their infield.
The North Stars regained a 2-1 lead in the fourth when the Saints made a mistake of their own throwing a ball away on a steal attempt. Saints junior Joe Hoscheit (2-for-4) quickly tied the game in the next inning by crushing a ball over Nelson’s head in left field for a double to score Nicholas Erickson.
The Saints pushed across the winning run in the sixth, a rally started when the North Stars dropped a sinking line drive in right field. With the go-ahead run at third base and two outs, Collin Peterson relieved Carl Formento and Anthony Sciarrino rolled a ball deep in the hole at short and beat the throw to first.
Formento (5-2) took a hard-luck loss allowing only 1 earned run. He also went 2-for-2 at the plate.
“He got kind of snakebit by the errors,” Genke said. “We just have to make those plays. For the most part they are routine plays and our guys know that and just didn’t make them.”
Genke brought up sophomore Mitch Hurst to catch, informing him at 3 p.m. when Nick Gilmore couldn’t go after having his hand hit three times by Saints swings Tuesday. The Saints stole 6 bases in the game before Hurst threw out Hoscheit in the seventh.
“If we can take advantage of them we will,” Saints coach Len Asquini said. “We had an opportunity and we did. Getting them out of those force-out situations, getting them in scoring position, it was good to see.
“Our backs were against the wall and the kids responded. We were really, really happy to see that.”
The series concludes with a dynamite pitching matchup between the Saints’ Kyle Manske (6-1, 1.29 ERA) and the North Stars’ Jake Johansmeier (3-2, 2.42 ERA) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.
“We have our hands full too with the guy they are going to throw,” Asquini said. “It will make for a real nice matchup, make it even more electric.”