Baseball: St. Charles East rolls over Elgin
The St. Charles East baseball team has faced only one opponent with a winning record in the last month, but the competition level is about to rise.
The streaking Saints won their fourth straight Friday by completing a 3-game Upstate Eight River sweep of visiting Elgin with a 13-1, five-inning victory on Senior Day.
The win concluded a 15-game stretch since April 13 during which St. Charles East (21-6, 16-3) took 13 of 15 games from Elgin (4-23, 2-17), Streamwood (11-13), Larkin (10-14), West Aurora (8-19), West Chicago (4-18) and Glenbard East (16-12).
Stiffer challenges lie directly ahead as the Saints round the turn to the regular season's final week, beginning with Saturday morning's UEC crossover at Valley Division leader South Elgin (15-4). The Storm will have ace starting pitcher Nate Gomez on the mound, South Elgin coach Jim Kating confirmed Friday.
Gomez (4-0) owns a 0.45 earned-run average in 31.1 innings over 8 appearances, 5 starts. He has yielded only 2 earned runs on 13 hits and 13 walks while striking out 51. He set a program record on April 26 with 16 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over West Aurora.
On Monday, St. Charles East begins a 3-game series against crosstown rival and UEC River leader St. Charles North (24-4, 18-1).
"If we've got a chance at a conference title, we have to win (against South Elgin) and, really, we have to sweep North," St. Charles East coach Len Asquini said. "It's a tall task for us, but it's still kind of in our hands."
East completes the regular season next Saturday with a nonconference game at former UEC foe Neuqua Valley (27-1-1). Are the Saints ready for the challenge of five games against three teams sporting a combined 66-8-1 record?
"As a team, offensively and defensively, I think we're hot," said senior pitcher Josh Soderstrom (2-0), who picked up the win Friday with 4 innings of 2-hit ball that featured 9 strikeouts. "I think we're ready to go. Of this entire year, this is probably the best time for us to be going into (the St. Charles North) series. Offensively, everything's clicking, our pitching's doing really well and the same with defensive support. I think we're ready."
Soderstrom's teammates were ready to hit in the first inning against Elgin. They scored 5 runs in the first, 5 more in the second to blow the game open. Shortstop Thomas Adams, who entered hitting .260, went 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and a career-high 5 RBI.
"We need him to do that for us," Asquini said. "He's got to be a part of that offense at the bottom of the order that can get on base and cause a little bit of havoc."
Adams said he and his teammates are ready to square off against the area's best over the coming week.
"We've been preparing the whole season, getting better every single day," Adams said. "We're meshing together as a team. I definitely think we're ready for the challenges ahead of us."