No style points, but Wheaton Academy's Lindstedt will take no-hitter
Minutes after the kind of performance most pitchers dream of, Jake Lindstedt said he didn't have his best stuff.
His less-than-best still proved unhittable.
Wheaton Academy's senior right-hander fired a six-inning no-hitter with 13 strikeouts as the Warriors stormed to Monday's 10-0 Metro Suburban West victory over IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst.
No doubt the 5 walks allowed by Lindstedt led to his less-than-best assessment. But even though the Knights (10-19, 4-10) put five runners in scoring position, Lindstedt's stuff was overpowering when needed.
“It was definitely nice to overcome not having my best stuff,” said Lindstedt, who hasn't allowed more than 5 hits in an outing this season. “In the innings where I walked a lot of guys I just struggled with control. But once I found a way to get it in the zone I was fine because my stuff's good enough. My fastball had a lot of life on it, and my slider helped set them off the fastball so they couldn't just sit on it.”
Lindstedt's biggest jam came in the bottom of the third inning when he walked the bases loaded with two outs. A strikeout — not surprisingly — ended the threat and preserved a 4-0 lead for Wheaton Academy (19-6, 13-1).
Harrison Taylor led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run and the Warriors added 5 runs in the sixth inning to push the lead to 10-0. IC Catholic Prep put two runners on in the bottom of the sixth on a dropped third strike and a walk, but Lindstedt capped the no-hitter when a liner to center field by the Knights' Brian Herrera was snagged by Chris Johnson.
“We've been getting guys on base consistently all year, but we just can't get a big hit,” said Knights coach Zach Rodeghero, who started four sophomores and a freshman. “It's been here and there when we'll get some hits, but we can't score. Sometimes we just shut down. But this is a really young team, and we'll get better.”
Seven players had hits for Wheaton Academy, which scored twice in the first and third innings. Taylor, R.W. Rienow, Johnson and Christian Ebeling all had 2 hits. Luke Kram drove in 2 runs.
“Jake's just having a great year all around,” said Warriors coach Brad Byrne. “Obviously, he's had better control than what he showed today, but he's just doing it at the plate and on the mound.”
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