York's Pisani cools off Wheaton North bats

York senior starting pitcher Matt Pisani allowed his fair share of baserunners Friday afternoon.

His ability to strand them on the basepaths allowed his Dukes to win the game.

Over seven innings of work against Wheaton North, Pisani stranded eight Falcons on base, including five in scoring position as the Dukes earned a 2-0 nonconference victory in Elmhurst.

Pisani (1-0) set the tone right away, inducing Falcons catcher Ben Murrow into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded in the top of the first to keep Wheaton North (7-2) off the scoreboard.

A pair of solo homers proved more than enough backing for the senior, who relied on his change of pace to fool the Falcons' offense.

"I was throwing all three of my pitches for strikes. I got the fastball, the curveball and the changeup over," Pisani said. "We got big outs in the field; a lot of my fielders backed me up today."

"When you compete and throw three pitches - and especially locate three pitches - you're going to be pretty successful," York coach Dave Kalal said. "He throws nothing straight. His fastball moves all over the place, he's tough to hit and he keeps the ball down for the most part."

Solo shots from designated hitter Joe Boozell and catcher Kyle Leone were enough to deal Wheaton North starter Eric Scandora (2-1) his first defeat of the season.

Boozell's homer came with one out in the bottom of the second on a 2-2 fastball. Leone's blast - his fourth of the year - came on Scandora's first pitch in the bottom of the fifth.

"(Scandora) had a great breaking ball, and I was kind of lost on the first two pitches," Boozell said of his second-inning at-bat. "He tried to sneak a fastball on the inside corner, and I just saw it well and hit it."

"Both times he just got the ball up, and they took advantage of it," Falcons coach Dan Schoessling. "Those were probably the only two mistakes he made all day."

After seeing his team score 14 runs Tuesday, Schoessling could do little but tip his cap to Pisani.

"When you're facing a good pitcher and you've got him on the ropes early, you've got to take advantage of it," Schoessling said. "We hit into the double play and didn't do a lot after that.

"Any time we got guys on base, he seemed to turn it up a notch. We faced a good arm today - just not our day."