Baseball: Zitella powers St. Charles East to 2nd straight win over Lake Park
St. Charles East's baseball team relied on solid pitching and the powerful bat of Jake Zitella to record its second victory in as many days against perennial DuKane Conference contender Lake Park Tuesday afternoon.
Junior right-hander Seth Winkler pitched 6 innings, giving up an unearned run on 3 hits with a walk and 5 strikeouts, while Zitella went 2-for-3 with a home run and double to lead the Saints (5-1-1, 2-0) to their 6-2 triumph.
Lake Park (2-5, 0-2) grabbed an early 1-0 in the top of the first before the Saints scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame.
After Dom LeBlanc's 1-out single, Zitella hit the first offering from Lancers starting pitcher David Deimling over the right-field fence for a 2-run home run and Saints' 2-1 lead.
"It was a fastball middle away, and I just took it where it came from," said Zitella, who provided the game-winning, 2-run home run in the Saints' 2-0 win over Lake Park on Monday. "That's what I'm trying to do," added Zitella. "I've been working on it all off-season - hit the ball where it's pitched. Obviously, it paid off today."
"It was a huge answer," Saints coach Len Asquini said of Zitella's home run. "It was a tough day to hit with the weird wind out here."
Zitella added a double in the fifth and came across with the Saints' fifth run of the game on Winkler's RBI single.
"Jake doubled and Seth got the base hit to score him with two outs and two strikes," said Asquini. "That's great stuff."
Winkler also had great stuff, working 4 consecutive 1-2-3 innings from the second through the fifth, benefiting from a double play and a couple web gems from shortstop Nicolas Miller and third baseman Zitella.
"Today, my defense made some great plays," said Winkler. "I work pretty fast as a pitcher so getting into that rhythm felt pretty good.
"I finally got to pitch in some nice weather. My first two starts, it was rainy and cold."
The Saints also received offensive production from juniors Clay Jensen (3-for-3, 2 runs scored), Eddie Herrera (1-for-2, RBI), and designated hitter James Brennan (1-for-2, RBI).
"It was a very good team win," said Asquini, whose team will try for the 3-game sweep Wednesday afternoon in Roselle.
Senior southpaw Gavin Sitarz tossed 6 scoreless innings during Monday's win before reliever LeBlanc recorded the save.
"Guys have been attacking the zone - very efficient," said Asquini.
Mason Baer had an RBI single in the sixth for the Lancers.
"Yesterday, we had two hits and today we had three," said Lancers coach Dan Colucci. "We didn't really pressure their defense much. Their pitchers did a great job. They didn't give us much of an opportunity to string anything together.
"They're a good team. They put the ball in play and put pressure on us. We played sloppy baseball today.
"It's a long season and we'll continue to work on what we need to work on. The goal for our program every year is to play our best baseball at the end of May."