Baseball: Yoon’s clutch hits help Fremd edge Palatine
Caleb Yoon gave Fremd a huge thumbs-up.
Yoon, who is the catcher for the Vikings, had injured his right thumb two weeks ago when he tried to block an errant pitch. Yoon showed Wednesday in Palatine that he had fully recovered from the injury.
The senior had two hits and drove in three runs as Fremd knocked off crosstown rival Palatine 6-4.
“My thumb is a lot better,” Yoon said. “I think last week, the thumb was affecting my swing a little bit. But I worked a lot with the trainer.”
Yoon, who hit .190 last year, has nearly doubled that average this season.
“On deck, I just want to be that guy,” Yoon said. “I look forward to being in those big moments. Especially since I am batting fourth this season. I know Johnny (O’Brien), Cooper (Nelson) and Chase (Nelson) have been doing a great job of getting on. So I have had a lot of chances to drive them in.”
The win gave the Vikings (17-0-1, 8-0) a season sweep over Palatine (15-8, 5-3) and kept them a game ahead of Barrington in the MSL West.
“We just keep finding ways to win,” said Fremd coach Chris Piggott, whose team plays Barrington in a two-game series next week.
“I just try to stay out of the way. When they are rolling, there is not much I can do. They do a good job of policing themselves and staying on top of each other. They take care of each other and keep having fun together.”
Fremd got off to a great start. They scored two runs in each of their first two at-bats to take a 4-0 lead.
In the first, O’Brien singled, and Yoon and Cole Seidel both walked. Kyle Halvadia followed with a sharp single to make it 2-0.
“It was 3-2 and I was thinking fastball,” Halvadia said. “If something comes over, just hit and see what happens there. It was a big at-bat and a turning point early in the game.”
In the second, Vinny Panzino and Cooper Nelson both singled while O’Brien walked to load the bases. Yoon then drilled a shot down the left-field line to drive home two.
Palatine, which was stymied in the first two innings, then came roaring back.
The Pirates got a leadoff double from Ben Ratajczak. That was followed by Jett Greiwe, who drove home courtesy runner Cooper Houston.
Toby Peterson singled. After two were out, both Ian Sherman and Adrian Santamaria singled home runs to make it 4-3.
Fremd ticked off single runs in the third and the fourth to pull ahead 6-3.
Seidel, who had singled to lead off the third, eventually would score on a balk. Chase Nelson, who singled to lead off the fourth, would eventually score on Yoon’s second hit.
Palatine had opportunities to pull even in the final two innings. But the Pirates were just one hit short in both innings.
In the sixth, Greiwe got things started with his third hit of the game, a two-out single. Peterson followed with his second hit.
Carter Monroe then doubled home Greiwe to make it 6-4 and put runners on second and third. Fremd starter Will Graba got a fly out to end the threat.
Palatine’s final opportunity came with one out in the seventh. Santamaria, who had two hits on the day, doubled. Again, Graba made solid pitches, getting a ground out and an infield pop out to end the game.
“It was a smaller zone then I am used to,” said Graba, who improved to 6-0. “So I had to adjust and pitch more to contact. I made my best pitches when I had to.”
Palatine coach Brent Carroll said his team just couldn’t get that clutch hit.
“We did a great job of battling back,” Carroll said, “We had runners in scoring position a couple of times. We just couldn’t get that big hit. They are a good team and we are too. We showed we could compete with them.”