Danielak, Hersey frustrate Fremd

Mike Danielak didn’t have the stuff that enabled him to throw two 1-hitters and a 2-hitter in his first 3 starts, all victories.

So the Hersey starting pitcher had to do something he hadn’t done all year: battle with less than his best.

Staked to a 4-0 first inning lead, Danielak gave up two early runs but was solid the rest of the way as Hersey topped host Fremd 5-2 in a Mid-Suburban League crossover.

“I knew I didn’t have my best stuff today so I was focusing in harder and letting my ability take over,” Danielak said.

Hersey (11-1, 3-0) jumped on top right away as Tyler Perkowitz and Trevor Haas reached on hit by pitches and Josh Koutnik bunted them over.

Sean Reszotko’s infield single resulted in the first run and Danielak helped his own cause with a run-scoring single. David Milligan (3-for-3) capped the big inning with an RBI single up the middle.

That was more than enough support for Danielak, who struck out six and was able to go the distance after throwing 39 pitches in the first two innings.

“I didn’t have much working at the beginning of the game, but (catcher) Koutnik was settling me down,” Danielak said. “I knew I had to make good pitches and keep them guessing.”

“The difference in the game was his ability to locate,” said Hersey coach Bob Huber. “He used both halves of the plate. He got better as he went, and his location was really good from about the third inning on. That was the key.”

Fremd (8-6, 1-2) got to Danielak early as a two-out hit from Josh Jyawook scored Keith Browning in the first, and two-strike hits from Jack Andersen and Matt Wisniewski before a perfect bunt from Connor Bieda led to a single tally in the second.

But Danielak yielded only 2 hits over the final 5 innings and reached three-ball counts just twice in the game.

“I was happy with the first two innings, but not the next five innings,” said Fremd coach Chris Piggott. “He’s a good pitcher, but we had the opportunity to score some runs and we couldn’t come up with the big hit.”

After the Huskies increased the lead in the fourth thanks to a Nick Nolan sacrifice fly, the Vikings looked to mount a rally in the sixth. Keith Giagnorio led off with a double, but Danielak needed only six pitches after that to retire the side.

“It’s going pretty well right now, but I keep trying to impress upon these guys that it can change in a heartbeat,” Huber said. “Enjoy it while we’re going, but it can change like that.”