Baseball: Hayes leads St. Charles East over Fremd

Kyles Hayes supplied Alec Rupp all the offense he would need with one swing of the bat Thursday afternoon in St. Charles.

Hayes, a sophomore for the St. Charles East baseball team, clouted a 3-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to propel the Saints to a 9-2 victory over the Vikings.

"It was just a mistake by the pitcher," Hayes said. "He hung a curveball right there."

Alec Rupp pitched six innings for the Saints to earn the victory.

The right-hander also made a lone mistake as the Vikings' Will Josten answered Hayes' blast with a 2-run shot of his own in the top of the second inning.

"I was just going up there looking to be aggressive," Josten said. "I didn't feel anything when it hit the bat. It just went out."

But the Vikings would only manage a Nick Rattin leadoff double in the top of the sixth for their last of 4 hits off Rupp.

The right-hander fanned the side in the top of the fourth inning.

St. Charles East (3-1) would take advantage of wildness from the Fremd starting pitcher in the bottom of the fourth.

Luke Matheny and Nick Schumann were credited with RBIs on a respective hit-by-pitch and base on balls with the sacks loaded.

The Saints would ultimately collect 11 hits off two pitchers for the Vikings (1-4).

After Rupp departed at the end of the sixth inning, the Saints would do further damage in their final at-bat.

Gino Cerrone, Clay Conn and Thomas Schroeder set the table with a one-out single, walk and perfectly executed bunt.

Cole Conn and Matheny would deliver the ultimate insurance with back-to-back 2-run base hits.

Cole Conn had some sibling aid for his double down the right-field line.

"My brother was on second," Cole Conn said. "He was relaying signals to me. I knew what was coming. It was a change-up."

Matheny then accounted for the final score when he plated Schroeder and Cole Conn with a bloop single to right field.

Brian Stubbs pitched a flawless seventh inning for the Saints in relief of Rupp.

On an idyllic early spring afternoon, the game was equally well played as neither team committed an error.

The Vikings gunned down two St. Charles East players trying to stretch a base.