Baseball: St. Charles North downs Cary-Grove
Leaving six runners on base through four innings without scoring a run, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before the St. Charles North offense would score runs in bunches.
Down 4-0 after four innings, the North Stars tallied 4 runs in the fifth and added 5 in the sixth in rallying for a 9-4 victory over host Cary-Grove in nonconference baseball action Monday afternoon.
"We left a small village on base in the first four innings," said North Stars coach Todd Genke. "We were hitting the ball well the first four innings but just couldn't get the clutch hit. We got some big hits in the fifth and sixth and that really propelled us and demoralized Cary. We were down early against a very good Cary-Grove team on the road. I like the way we responded and I was proud of the way we came back."
The Trojans (13-9-1) got off to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a long solo homer to left center by Ryan Ignoffo.
Ignoffo and Quinn Priester collected run-scoring singles as Cary-Grove scored 3 runs in the fourth to take a 4-0 advantage.
Aided by 2 Trojan errors, the North Stars scored 4 runs in the fifth to tie the score, led by Justin Dunne who drove in 2 runs with a double and Egon Hein delivered a 2-RBI single.
"We were frustrated by not scoring in the first four innings," said Dunne. "We got enough runners on base we just couldn't get the big hit. We just chipped away and got our offense going. I was aggressive at the plate and looked fastball and just wanted to drive the ball hard."
In the sixth, the Stars (18-2) seized control of the game with 5 runs aided by 3 Cary-Grove errors.
The key hits during the 5-run inning were an RBI double by Patrick Bellock and run-scoring singles by Ryan Thiesse, Steve Hamer and Erik Larson.
The North Stars benefitted from 7 Trojan errors in the game.
"The fifth and sixth innings were disastrous," said Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland. "The pitching was good enough we just didn't support them very well."
With 10 hits, Thiesse, Dunne and Steve Hamer collected 2 hits apiece for the winners.
SCN received a solid starting effort from starter and winning pitcher Tristen Cazel, who gave up 4 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings and had 4 strikeouts with 1 walk.
John Hamer, in 2 innings, blanked the Trojans on 1 hit. He struck out 2 with a walk and he hit a batter.
"Tristen was outstanding and he kept us in the game before we could score," said Genke. "John came in and had good stuff and pitched with a lot of confidence. It was a good overall effort by both our pitchers."
Priester with 3 hits and Ignoffo with 2 hits accounted for all of the Trojans' hits in the game.