Surber in command for Lisle in win over Coal City
There isn't much that can faze Lisle's Jon Surber when he is in the zone on the mound. However, after keeping Coal City's bats silent for five innings, Surber had to deal with some adversity before pulling out a win Tuesday.
Surber escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth inning with the lead intact as Lisle held on to defeat Coal City 4-3 on a windy afternoon in Lisle.
"(Surber) shows so much guts out there," Lisle coach Pete Meyer said. "We had that bases-loaded, nobody-out situation and to come away with the lead was fantastic. There was a couple of screwy plays, then they got a nice hit and a couple of runs. Then he gets back up on the mound like the horse he is and stands there and says, 'I'm coming after you.' He's a huge leader for us."
Before the crazy sixth inning, Lisle (16-6, 6-2) drew first blood in the third inning with some clutch two-out RBI hits by left-fielder Ryan Van Volkenburg and Surber, as Lisle grabbed the lead 2-0 after three innings.
The Lions continued their two-out magic in the fourth inning as catcher Kazim Khan and second baseman Ryan Liss had back-to-back RBI hits with two outs that gave Surber what seemed to be an insurmountable lead the way he was dealing.
"Those two-out hits were huge, especially after yesterday when we got two outs and we kind of put our tail between our legs," Meyer said. "We talked last night about not giving up with two outs and they came out today and did a great job."
Surber echoed his coach's sentiments on the importance of the two-out rallies.
"I like tight games like this, those big two-out hits mean everything," Surber said.
It was a good thing for all those two-out hits for the Lions, as Coal City (13-9, 6-3) finally got something going against Surber in the sixth inning.
The first five Coalers reached base to start the sixth via four hits and a hit batter. Also mixed in was a Lisle error, a close play at first that could have gone either way and an automatic ball issued mid-batter due to Surber going to his mouth on the mound.
Right-fielder Evan Frantini then laced a 2-run single to left-center to draw the Coalers within a run. However, Surber bared down and wriggled out of the jam getting a double-play ground ball to shortstop Stephen Accetturo.
"It was an awkward series of events and we found ourselves in a tough situation," Surber said. "I threw a real nice changeup and rolled a groundball to Stephen and he made a real nice play to get two and we got out of it."
Having escaped near disaster, Surber came out and shut the door on the Coalers in the seventh, as he retired the side in order, finishing off his 5-hit, 9-strikeout and no-walk complete game.
"Surber's very calm and composed out there and we knew we couldn't rattle him," Coal City coach Jerry McDowell said. "It would've been nice to be able to tack on a couple more runs in the sixth, but we had a couple of routine plays defensively that we botched for errors, and that was the game."
Brandon Tidabank was the tough-luck loser on the mound for Coal City as the sophomore also twirled a complete game in a losing effort.
"I knew I was going against Surber and he throws really well," Tidabank said. "A couple of plays here and there and the game could've gone the other way."