Streamwood sweeps St. Charles North

Streamwood’s baseball team doubled its pleasure Saturday — literally.

Josh Harris’ clutch 3-run fifth-inning double helped the Sabres (22-2, 16-2) overcome a 3-1 deficit on their way to a 4-3 opening-game victory over St. Charles North (17-8, 11-5) in St. Charles.

In the nightcap, Nick Pryor’s RBI double highlighted a 5-run sixth as the Sabres staged another late-inning rally to turn back the North Stars 8-5 and complete their Upstate Eight Conference River Division doubleheader sweep.

“Looking at it all day today, I think we had all three phases going,” said Sabres coach Steve Diversey, whose team extended its winning streak to 8 games. “We just got through what I thought was our toughest week — playing seven games in six days. (Getting) seven wins on a week is huge.”

No base hit was bigger than the one Harris had in the opener, as the left-handed hitter stepped up with the bases loaded and promptly cleared them with his drive off the left-field fence.

“I was the one who made the mistakes defensively the inning before,” Harris said of the North Stars’ 2-run fourth. “It was nice to kind of redeem myself and get us the lead.”

Harris (6-1), who tossed a complete game in Game 1, was most pleased with his fifth-inning at-bat.

“It was a pretty big spot for me,” said the Villanova-bound Harris. “I tried not to think too much and just hit it where it was pitched. I got a pitch I could hit.”

Harris, the ace of the Sabres’ staff, admitted that his team wanted to come out and set the tone for the day in the opener.

“We really wanted to come out and get the first one,” said Harris. “That was our main goal. Once we got through the first game, we had a lot of confidence.”

That confidence showed throughout the second game, as Sabres junior pitcher Dominick Tatone (2-0) battled toe-to-toe with the North Stars’ Jake Johansmeier (3-1).

St. Charles North grabbed a 2-1 lead on John Munyon’s 2-out RBI double in the fifth inning before the Sabres came right back with a crooked number in the top of the sixth. Patrick Manning was hit by a pitch to start the rally and Richie Gorski’s single put runners on first and third before Tim Cohen’s sacrifice fly tied the game at 2-2.

Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle then stroked a first-pitch RBI single to put the Sabres on top for good.

“We might get down early but we know we’re going to get our opportunities later,” said Diversey. “We’re not going to stop.”

“I knew our bats were going to come alive sooner or later,” said Tatone, who struck out 6 in 6 2/3 innings before Gorski came on to record the final out.

Munyon drove in a pair of runs while catcher Matt Thomas went 3-for-3 with 3 walks in the doubleheader defeat for the North Stars.

“They played well,” North Stars coach Todd Genke said of the Sabres. “It seemed like every time we answered and got a couple (runs), they came right back and answered our answer. That’s the sign of a good team.

“We had our chances but of the 42 outs during the doubleheader, I think we struck out for 20 of those. I give credit to their pitchers but we’ve got to find a way to put the ball in play and make them defend. It just seemed like it was their day today.”

The teams conclude their 3-game series Tuesday in Streamwood.

“We knew we had to bring our best stuff to beat these guys and we did that today,” said Harris.