Baseball: Stevenson duo blanks Buffalo Grove
The battle of Lake-Cook Road turned into a dual Saturday in Lincolnshire.
Stevenson's Max Rosenkranz and Michael Belbot combined to shut down Buffalo Grove 3-0 to capture the border.
"There were a lot of weather delays," said Stevenson assistant coach Ryan Whitcomb, who stepped in for head coach Nick Skala who was away on personal business.
"But when we did get started, we got great pitching. They aren't our usual conference starters but they came up big for us. And we got a couple of big hits when we needed them."
It was a game that had a delayed start because of the late morning storms.
Rosenkranz, who is a senior, was making his third start of the season. He went four innings, allowing just two hits while striking out two.
He also got defensive help from shortstop Owen Hosuinger, who will play at Wisconsin-Oshkosh next year. The senior made a trio of solid plays including starting a 6-4-3 double play in the second inning.
"This is one of my best starts," said Rosenkranz. "I gave up two hits, but my team made a lot of great plays. They were there for me."
Belbot came on in the fifth and also looked very good. The junior gave up just one hit. He also got a superb defensive play behind him when Loras commit Bryan Park, who plays second, tagged a runner off a ground ball and then fired to first for the Patriots' second double play of the game.
"Last year I did not get to pitch a lot," said Belbot, who picked up the save. "This year I am pitching more. I am looking to pitch in college, so I like getting more reps. We have some of the best defense you can see. When I come in to pitch, I know I can pitch to contact because I have real good defense behind me."
Stevenson (15-6) got all the offense it would need in the second inning.
Jordan Skolmar, who will play at Milwaukee School of Engineering next season, walked and stole second. He then scored on Luca Morelli's sharp single to right to make it 1-0.
The Patriots added a pair of insurance runs in the next inning. Hosuinger and Skolmar both walked. They scampered home on Chris Iannuzzi's first double of the season to make it 3-0.
"It felt good," Iannuzzi said. "I should have had one the other day. We needed that hit when I got it."
That was the last hit and baserunner for the Patriots as Buffalo Grove also got nice performances from the brothers Wolverton on the mound.
Michael Wolverton, who is sophomore, started and allowed all three runs, while striking out five. His brother Matthew, who will play at Dubuque next year, pitched the final the final three innings and retired all 9 batters he faced, striking out one.
Buffalo Grove (9-7), which came into the game winning its last six games, five of which were by one run, just couldn't get the hit when it needed it.
"We didn't execute on a couple of plays," Buffalo Grove coach Bill Montemayor said. "That put us in a bad position. Their pitchers attacked the zone and it was not a good day to hit because of the wind."