Baseball: Streamwood shuts down Bartlett

The Streamwood baseball team's 7-0 Saturday morning victory over Bartlett was just what the Sabres needed after a long week.

It was a result the visiting Hawks could have lived without.

Streamwood (11-16) took its lumps during the week from three of the top five teams in the upcoming Class 4A Bartlett sectional. The 15th-seeded Sabres dropped a 10-0 decision to No. 1 St. Charles North on Friday and fell 8-5 against No. 4 Batavia on Monday. In between, they lost 3 straight against No. 5 St. Charles East by a combined score of 26-5.

The Sabres had better luck against No. 17 Bartlett (9-15) on Senior Day. Senior Daniel Kuehl held the Hawks scoreless on 1 hit over 5 innings, and senior first baseman Mike Pawlikowski pulled a 3-run home run over the left field fence in the second inning to put the Sabres ahead 7-0 in the Upstate Eight crossover.

"Its' been a while since we put a full game together," said Pawlikowski, responsible for 3 of Streamwood's 6 home runs this season. "I was just looking to hit the ball hard. He threw me a pitch down and in a little bit, right where I wanted it at the belt. Looked at it, saw it right there and just put a nice swing on it."

Pawlikowski turned on a first-pitch fastball.

"I felt that took the pressure off a little bit," Streamwood coach Ryan LaSota said of the blast, which keyed a 4-run inning. "That was big. We get that crooked number and it gave us a lot of energy on the bench. It's a lot more fun to play that way. And being able to get off the schneid and get a W was nice."

The Sabres' 7 hits included a first-inning double by No. 3 hitter AJ Reyna. The junior roped a double to left field, scoring Tyler Jones and Colin Caminitti for a 2-0 lead against Bartlett starting pitcher Max Lewis.

Seven runs was plenty for Kuehl (1-5). The right-hander issued 2 first-inning walks but escaped unscathed with the first of 7 strikeouts.

"I just had to settle in," Kuehl said. "I came out a little bit nervous because of Senior Night with a lot people watching. The curveball wasn't working too well, but I knew my defense had my back. I just threw strikes, let them hit it and got out of the inning. I kept the same mindset the rest of the game."

Streamwood sophomore Tyler Jones danced around 3 walks and a hit to toss 2 scoreless relief innings.

Tyler Yang (2-for-3) managed the only hits for Bartlett, which was unable to dent the scoreboard despite drawing 6 walks. The Hawks have lost 3 of their last 4 games, including a UEC Valley series loss to West Aurora earlier in the week.

"Two things set the tone," Bartlett coach Devin Rosen said. "We had guys on base first inning and the opportunity to jump on top, which would have set things up in our favor but it didn't happen. Then in their half we didn't throw strikes, and defensively we failed also. That's a recipe for disaster, unfortunately."

Caminitti went 2-for-2 with 2 walks and Reyna finished 3-for-4 with 3 RBI for the Sabres.