Lyons' 11-hit attack upends St. Charles N.
With all of the weather problems experienced by local high school baseball teams during the first few weeks of the season, it seemed only fitting that St. Charles North coach Todd Genke mentioned a meteorological term in his postgame talk to the media Friday evening.
"It's a barometer," Genke said after watching the North Stars (2-3) drop a 5-3 decision to visiting Lyons Township (4-0-1) during the opening round of the Schaumburg Flyers Invitational Tournament in St. Charles.
"When I sat down and put the schedule together, I knew we were going to face a lot of good teams," added Genke. "This was a measuring stick. We need to see where we're at."
Where highly regarded St. Charles North finds itself is below the .500 mark after its first five games.
The North Stars managed just 2 hits off Lyons starting and winning pitcher C.J. Esposito (2-0) during the darkness-shortened, 5-inning contest that didn't begin until nearly 6 p.m. at St. Charles North.
"Offensively, we're not clicking yet," said Genke. "We're just not there yet. We're not making enough adjustments at the plate right now.
"It's just disappointing because they (Lyons) arrived late and we just kind of sat around."
Things began on a positive enough note for the North Stars, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Leadoff hitter Sam Weinberg walked, stole second and moved to third before scoring when a Lyons outfielder misplayed a ball hit off the bat of Ryan Richardson into a 2-base error. Richardson later came across with the second run of the inning on a throwing error.
"That first inning we should have gotten four or five (runs) instead of two," said Genke, whose team stranded runners at second and third. "We got two runs in the first, which was great, and then we just kind of fell asleep for whatever reason.
"We've got to keep the gas pedal to the floor. We've got to step on some throats when we have the opportunity."
North Stars southpaw Zach Hirsch (0-2), who allowed 11 hits over 4½ innings, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second before being touched for 4 third-inning runs.
The big blow came off the bat of Esposito (3-for-3, 4 RBIs), who smacked a 2-1 pitch over the fence in right-center for a 3-run home run that gave the visitors a 4-2 lead.
"The home run obviously was a big momentum changer," said Genke. "I was happy with the way he (Hirsch) threw the ball today. He got a couple balls up. The ball that was hit for a home run was a changeup that was up.
"But he's (Esposito) a big, strong kid who hit the ball to the opposite field. He earned it. Zach got a little lesson today on how to handle a good hitting lineup."
St. Charles North, which will host to Prairie Ridge in today's 1 p.m. second-round tournament game, added its final run in the fifth when Richardson doubled and eventually scored on an infield error.