Baseball: Bartlett blows out WW South
Bartlett did just about everything right in Saturday's matchup with Wheaton Warrenville South.
Timely hitting, check. Stellar pitching, check. Outstanding defense, check.
Add in eight stolen bases and the result was a 14-0 victory for the visitors in the nonconference affair in Wheaton.
"We are playing very well right now," said Bartlett coach Devin Rosen, whose team improved to 4-2. "We are trying to teach our guys to do the little things to win games. And then the big things will happen when you least expect them."
Tyler Yang had a strong start on the mound after finding out right before the bus left that he would be getting the ball due to another player's illness. The right-hander responded with five frames of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits.
"I had to change my mentality a little bit," Yang said about the late starting nod. "But I felt like since I had a full hour to get ready, that gave me enough time to lock in. My defense worked really well behind me, I just had to throw strikes. And it was great to have some (run) support early. We've been good about that, scoring in the first inning."
Indeed, the Hawks plated a pair of runs in the opening inning, with Alex Rodriguez contributing an RBI single. Joey Allen added an RBI hit in the second and the score remained 3-0 until the sixth, thanks to the defense of Bartlett.
The home Tigers threatened in the fifth but left-fielder Ryan Temesvary threw out a runner at home for the first out. Temesvary then made a running catch in the gap on a line drive and doubled off the guy at second to end the inning.
Bartlett responded by pushing across three runs in the sixth and broke it open with seven more in the seventh, thanks to eight hits. Eric Johansen's three-run double was the big blow. Everyone in the lineup finished with at least one hit for the Hawks. Ryan Sharko and Martin Moreno had three apiece.
"We are pretty balanced right now when it comes to our offense," Rosen said. "Everyone has the same approach."
The Tigers saw their record evened at 3-3. Matt Brodhead started on the mound and pitched three innings, striking out four.
"It was a little frustrating," WWS coach Tim Brylka said. "From the start, defensively we were terrible. And they are a good team. They have a couple of guys who can swing it and they played hard defensively. And their kid threw strikes."