Baseball: Fecht’s pitching, Toma’s hitting sends West Aurora past Bartlett

Tyler Fecht has provided West Aurora’s baseball team with plenty of offensive punch at the top of the batting order this season.

Lately, he has been pulling his weight on the pitcher’s mound as well.

Fecht, who picked up the save with an inning of work during the Blackhawks’ 2-0 win over Bartlett on Monday, returned to the mound Tuesday and tossed a 4-hit complete game in West Aurora’s 3-1 victory over the host Hawks (10-8, 6-2).

“Enough can’t be said about Fecht,” said Blackhawks coach John Reeves, who watched his team improve to 14-4 overall, 7-1 in Upstate Eight West play. “He finished the game yesterday in the seventh and probably threw 12 pitches, so he combined for like 90 pitches in two days.

“He has kind of been pushed into a starting role. A couple weeks ago, Abe Martinez took a ball in the face and broke some bones so he has been out. We needed a starter — and Fecht has been throwing the ball well. He came out today and gave us exactly what we wanted.”

Following Josh Colaizzi’s leadoff double in the sixth for the Hawks, Fecht retired the next 2 hitters on first-pitch grounders to second baseman Evan Franciscy, then recorded an inning-ending strikeout on 3 pitches.

“We knew he had to be economical with his pitches,” said Reeves.

Fecht (2-0), who walked 1 and struck out 4, retired the last 5 batters to end the game.

“I feel that a lot of my pitching style isn’t about strikeouts,” said Fecht. “More so, it’s just throwing strikes and letting my defense make plays. That’s what we did.”

Colaizzi (2 for 3) drove in the Hawks’ lone run in the third on a 2-out single through the left side.

“One run — I wasn’t worried about it,” said Fecht. “This season, we’ve been great at the plate. I knew we’d be able to get it eventually.”

Zach Toma’s leadoff home run in the fourth tied the game at 1-1 before the Blackhawks scored the go-ahead run in the fifth.

Franciscy singled and stole second before Oscar Alexander, Jr. coaxed a 2-out walk, setting the stage for Toma, who delivered an RBI single to right field to make it 2-1.

Alexander, Jr. added a solo home run off the base of the left-field scoreboard in the seventh.

“Zach had a nice series,” said Reeves. “Yesterday, he threw six innings and got lifted on pitch count. He struck out 11 and picked up the win. Today, it was basically the Zach Toma/Oscar Alexander, Jr. show. Toma hits the homer to tie it and gets the base hit to drive in the go-ahead run, and Oscar added a little insurance there in the seventh.”

Right-hander Vince Yario suffered the tough-luck loss for the Hawks, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits through 5 innings while striking out 10.

“They’re a good team and they pitch the ball really well,” said Hawks coach Alex Coan, whose team scored 1 run in 14 innings against the Blackhawks. “I think offensively, we just need to do a much better job situationally, moving the baseball a little bit better and playing for the guy behind us.

“We knew our strength coming in was going to be pitching and defense. These games will pay off for us in May. We can’t ask much more of our pitching staff. We have to give them a little more help offensively.”