Bartlett 2, St. Charles East 1

One look at the flagpole beyond the center field wall told the story Wednesday afternoon.

Bartlett junior pitcher Kyle King knew exactly what kind of elements he would face as the Hawks hopped on the bus and headed to St. Charles East.

"I knew the wind was going to be blowing in today," said King. "The weather conditions were a little severe."

Starting his third varsity game on the mound, the left-hander turned in a dominating performance, striking out 10 while tossing 1-hit ball for 6 innings during Bartlett's 2-1 Upstate Eight Conference diamond victory over the Saints (3-8-1, 2-4-1).

King, who allowed a harmless first-inning single off the bat of sophomore Johnathan Erickson, struck out 5 consecutive batters at one point -- fanning the side in order in the second inning.

"The breaking ball was working," said King, who recorded his first varsity win. "Actually, the weather helped out my breaking ball a little bit. I was just trying to keep the ball down."

Bartlett took a 1-0 lead in the third as Kyle Burden led off with a single and courtesy runner David Palma advanced to second on Tucker Erickson's sacrifice bunt.

After moving to third on Devin Rowland's single, Palma came across on Ryan Walker's perfectly executed squeeze bunt.

"I was definitely thinking (small ball)," said Bartlett coach Rocco Marinucci. "It was not a fly ball day today."

The Hawks (5-4, 4-3) added what turned out to be a much-needed insurance run in the seventh on Nick Quagliano's RBI single.

Alex VanNess came on in relief of King (pitch count) to start the seventh inning, and the Saints quickly cut the lead in half on an RBI double from sophomore third baseman Ryan O'Dell.

O'Dell eventually moved to third but was left stranded as VanNess retired the next batter on a groundout to record the save.

"We bounced back nice after yesterday's disappointing loss (8-7) to South Elgin," said Marinucci, who was impressed with King's pitching prowess.

"He did a great job," said the coach. "He did everything that we're hoping for from a junior. He's got a good breaking ball."

King has also shown the ability to rack up strikeouts during his young varsity career.

"He's got a lot of them so far," said Marinucci. "This is his third start and he's had five or more (strikeouts) in every one of his starts."

Junior southpaw Kyle Wiebe was the tough-luck losing pitcher for the Saints, who managed just 3 hits while dropping their fourth 1-run game of the season -- the second of the week to the Hawks.

"We had a lot of chances today but we didn't get the big hit," said Saints coach Mark Foulkes. "But what was encouraging was our defense was very good and our pitching was very good.

"It's just a matter of us hitting and putting it all together. We're still waiting but they'll keep working hard to get there."