St. Francis is a hit against Wheaton Academy
From the leadoff spot to the No. 9 batter, St. Francis coach Rick Janor liked what he saw in Monday's Suburban Christian Conference showdown with Wheaton Academy.
Eight of the Spartans' nine starters hit safely, while Jack Petrando reached base four times — twice on errors, and twice on hit-by-pitches.
In all, the Spartans pounded out 16 hits including a 4-for-4 effort in the bottom of the fifth that led to a 15-5, 10-run rule victory over the Warriors.
“The hitters were seeing the ball well,” Janor said. “I really liked our approach. I felt we were swinging at strikes, we knew which pitches to swing at, and if we keep getting production like that out of our 7-8-9 hitters, we're going to be pretty good.”
After a scoreless first inning, St. Francis got on the board with 3 runs in the bottom of the second when No. 9 hitter P.J. Preusser hit a two-out double to right field that drove in pinch-runner Austin Wilkens from second.
The Spartans (8-6, 2-1) tacked on two more runs in that inning when lead-off hitter Alex Alcantara singled up the middle on a 3-2 count to drive in Preusser. Alcantara eventually scored when the Wheaton Academy defense got distracted trying to pick off Petrando between first and second base.
The Warriors (4-7, 0-1) got on the board in the top of the third when Sam Perna led off the inning with a triple. He eventually scored off a groundout by Drew Sandberg, cutting the Spartan lead to 3-1.
St. Francis extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the third with RBI doubles by Lonnie Hicks and Brett Jungles, as well as an RBI single by Eric Bacon.
No. 4 hitter Tom Ameche finished 3-for-4 on the day and had a leadoff double in the bottom of the third.
“My coaches keep telling me to be patient, keep my head down, and that's what I did today,” Ameche said. “The whole team has been working really hard in batting practice. We got out here early, hitting in the field and in the batting cages.”
The Spartans extended their lead to 10-1 with 4 runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Wheaton Academy trimmed that lead to 10-5 in the top half of the fifth. Sandberg, Alexander McNally and Trevor Swaney each hit a double in that inning to drive in all four runs for the Warriors.
St. Francis closed out the game with 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alcantara led off with a walk, followed by Petrando's hit by pitch. Josh Croci then drove in Alcantara on a single and Ameche followed with a double that drove in Petrando.
Wilkens, pinch-hitting for Hicks, then drove in Croci and Ameche on a triple to center. In the next at-bat, Jungles finished the game with a single that sent home Wilkens.