St. Charles East offense explodes against Dundee-Crown
The St. Charles East baseball team doesn't mind playing in cool temperatures, not with an offense that continues to generate its own heat.
After pounding out 9 runs against Barrington and 13 runs at Palatine to win their first two games, the Saints erupted for 13 more runs Monday to hand Dundee-Crown its first loss, 13-4.
"Once it heats up we should heat up even more," said No. 2 hitter Ryan Sotern, who went 2-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 RBI and 4 runs scored. "Over the years we've struggled to hit at the beginning of the season, so it's really nice to see us as a team hitting well."
The 16-hit attack was more support than left-handed pitcher Wes Benjamin needed. The junior struck out seven without a walk in 5 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits to improve to 2-0.
"He was by far the best pitcher we've seen yet," Chargers coach Jon Sawyer said. "He threw more than one pitch for a strike and threw pretty well. Overall, I don't think our approach was awful, but we have to adjust to it. I was more concerned with the way we pitched. We can't throw fastballs at guys belts all day and let them drive the ball all over the park."
Dundee-Crown (2-1-1) scored a run in the second inning to tie the game 1-1, courtesy of junior Chris Lamprecht's RBI single. But the Saints sent 10 men to the plate in the fourth inning, when they scored 6 runs on 7 hits to chase D-C starter Chris Sailor (0-1).
T.J. Travis gave St. Charles East (3-0) the lead with a run-scoring groundout with the bases loaded. His teammates went on to score 5 more runs with two outs in the fourth, highlighted by Sotern's 2-run single and RBI doubles from Johnny Erickson (3-for-4, 3 RBI) and Ryan O'Dell (4-for-5, 2 RBI). The outburst encapsulated the Saints' hitting philosophy.
"Just sit back on the ball, try not to overpower and try to drive the ball," Erickson said. "Just hit it where it's pitched."
"We preach oppo, oppo, oppo, and we run a little bit," said new St. Charles East coach Dave Haskins, whose team stole 8 bases.
Dundee-Crown scored twice in the sixth inning to pull within 8-3. Nick Spagnola (2-for-3) doubled home a run and scored on a wild pitch. However, the Saints put the game out of reach with a 5-run seventh in which they collected 5 hits.
"This was the best team we've played this year for sure," Spagnola said. "They had great pitching and we just struggled at the plate."
Benjamin set the tone by striking out the first three Chargers he faced. Not bad considering he said he felt stiff before his pregame bullpen warmup.
"It worked out in the bullpen and everything else felt good," said Benjamin, who has struck out 12 in 10 innings over 2 starts. "My fastball was working really well today, and I got into my off-speed later on in the counts."