Baseball: Klebosits, St. Charles East efficiently edge Geneva
The Illinois High School Association's implementation of the pitch count rule this season has put an even bigger emphasis on throwing strikes.
St. Charles East senior starting pitcher Niko Klebosits turned in an economical performance during the Saints' 2-1 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over Geneva (5-4, 2-1) Tuesday afternoon.
The 6-foot-3 left-hander tossed 6 strong innings of 3-hit ball, striking out nine while not issuing a walk in a masterful 67-pitch effort to raise his mound record to 3-0.
"The coaches always say pitch to contact and let your defense work for you," said Klebosits. "Nine strikeouts - that's a lot more than usual but my off-speed was working today and my changeup was looking nice. I just kept going after them and it worked out for me."
It appeared that Klebosits was on his way to a no-decision before the Saints (7-3, 2-0) scored the go-ahead run on a Viking outfield error in the bottom of the sixth.
Joe Sciarrino led off with a walk and stole second before racing home on a line drive off the bat of junior catcher Nico Piaskowy that landed in and out of the Geneva outfielder's glove.
"Nico did a great job - he made an adjustment versus the earlier at-bat where he was swinging big with two strikes," said Saints coach Len Asquini. "He squared the ball up and regardless of whether the guy caught it or not he hit a hard line drive. We were happy with the at-bat and obviously the results were even better."
Geneva coach Brad Wendell was shocked by the unfortunate result.
"He'll make that catch 999 times out of a thousand," said Wendell. "Those things will happen. As a team, we've got to find a way to rise above that."
Senior Steve Abruzzo worked a 1-2-3 seventh for his third save.
"I like it," Abruzzo said of his closer's opportunity. "I really feel comfortable with this role on the team. Even coming into the season, I was thinking I could be a closer and I stuck to it."
"We thought at the end of the summer that might be something he could do for us and we're fortunate we get to see this right now," Asquini said of Abruzzo, who earned the first save of his career earlier this month in the Saints' 3-2, 10-inning win over second-ranked Plainfield South.
Last Saturday, Abruzzo worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out 6th-inning inherited jam during the Saints' 3-1 conference debut victory over Bartlett.
"It's a little nerve-wracking but it all comes down to confidence and being ready to play," said Abruzzo.
"Those two guys (Klebosits and Abruzzo) did an excellent job for us on the mound," said Asquini. "Niko was on a 75-pitch max and we wanted to start the (seventh) inning clean with Steve."
Geneva pitchers Sean Sinisko (2 IP, 5 Ks), Niko DiLeo (2 IP, 4 Ks) and Graham Owen (2 IP) combined to throw 6 innings of 2-hit ball in the tough-luck loss.
"Every kid who took the mound today did what they're supposed to do," said Wendell. "Credit to their kid, Niko (Klebosits). He was in command. He did it last year and he's doing it again. He was keeping our hitters off-balance."