Singh, Warriors in sync over St. Charles East
Waubonsie Valley knew this was coming.
Playing by far their sharpest baseball game of the young season, the Warriors and starting pitcher Kris Singh rolled to a 7-0 victory over St. Charles East Thursday in Aurora.
It was the first win of the year for Waubonsie Valley (1-4), and it came at the perfect time in the Upstate Eight Conference opener.
"I think we're going to be just fine," Singh said. "We just need to keep hitting the ball like we are and keep throwing strikes. We're a great team and we did well in the summer. Hopefully we can get that going again."
After reaching the semifinals of the IHSBCA summer state tournament, the Warriors struggled through four straight losses to start this season. It finally came together against the Saints (1-6, 0-1) behind their junior ace on the mound.
Singh (1-1) was near perfect in 6 innings, allowing 1 hit - a third-inning double by Ryan Sotern - and 3 walks while striking out eight. As the Warriors' leadoff hitter, he also went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Singh escaped his one jam in the fourth inning when an error and a walk eventually put runners on second and third with one out. A strikeout and groundout preserved the shutout.
Leading 7-0 at that point, Waubonsie Valley closed out the game strong. Matt Brancheau capped the 1-hitter with a scoreless seventh inning of relief.
"That was a complete game all around," said Warriors coach Dan Fezzuoglio. "That's how you want them to go, get out to a quick lead and shut them down. Credit to the kids for coming out with energy and coming out with confidence."
The bottom of the first highlighted the Warriors' aggressive attitude at the plate. They scored 3 runs on an RBI groundout by Jonny Strauss and a 2-run homer by Kevin Kirchner, but St. Charles East starter Kyle Wiebe (0-3) threw only 11 pitches in the inning.
Waubonsie Valley added its final 4 runs in the second inning. Singh and Strauss singled in runs while Eric Sousanes and Kirchner also had an RBI apiece. The Warriors got contributions from the bottom of the order as well. Sean Smith went 3-for-3 and Jeff Brown had a pair of hits.
"A lot of credit to them, they came out and swung the bats well," said St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes. "And Singh threw a great ballgame. They threw a good game, they got some key hits and we just couldn't catch up."
BOX SCORE
Waubonsie Valley 7, St. Charles East 0
St. Charles East 000 000 0 -0-1-3
Waubonsie Valley 340 000 X -7-13-1
2B: SCE: Sotern; WV: Singh, Smith.
HR: WV: Kirchner.
WP: Singh (1-1); LP: Wiebe (0-3).