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St. Charles East’s pitching stymies Streamwood

Nick Huskisson and Joe Hoscheit pitched as if they were going to leave their prom dates in the lurch on Saturday.

Capping a superlative week on the mound for the St. Charles East baseball team, the Saints’ starters were invincible against host Streamwood as the Saints secured back-to-back shutouts in their doubleheader with the Sabres with 8-0 and 12-0 victories.

“We had a pretty good week on the mound,” St. Charles East coach Len Asquini said after limiting the Sabres to 7 combined hits, none for extra bases. “Four wins (against no losses) with one run (allowed). If we take care of our business, we will at least tie for the conference with Batavia.”

The Saints (16-7, 14-4) have a one-game cushion over Batavia with the twin shutouts after the Bulldogs split their doubleheader with Geneva on Saturday in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division.

After Huskisson mowed down the Sabres, aiding his own cause with a third-inning home run in the opener, Hoscheit did the same in the nightcap.

St. Charles East scored its opening run in the second without the benefit of a base hit, and Streamwood (3-16, 3-14) keep the game close through the first four innings.

Three runners caught napping on the base paths over two innings typically suggests squandered opportunities, but St. Charles East made the most of its other three outs in the fifth and sixth innings of Game 2.

Fourteen batters appeared for the Saints in the two innings, and eight of them scored to blow the second game open.

Sean Dunne went 4-for-4 with 3 RBI to spearhead the Saints’ late attack.

“I have actually been struggling before this point,” Dunne said. “I was just trying to square everything up.”

Nicholas Erickson had a bases-loaded, 2-run single for the Saints in their 5-run fifth inning, and Anthony Sciarrino scored another run with his double to left center.

Hoscheit, following the 11-strikeout performance Huskisson authored in the first game, escaped his one and only jam in the Sabres’ fourth; he denied the potential equalizer with Michael Smith on third and one out with a strikeout and routine grounder.

With the second-game outcome long decided, St. Charles East added 3 unearned runs in its seventh to close out the scoring.

Staff ace Matt Starai, undefeated in six decisions, recorded the final six outs for the Saints to secure the first victory of the spring for Hoscheit.

The Saints collected 23 hits during their doubleheader sweep.

“We made some nice plays in the field,” St. Charles East first-baseman Ben Smith said of the opener. “(Huskisson) backed it up with some key strikeouts.”

Streamwood is striving for consistency.

“(The St. Charles East) pitchers were working ahead a lot,” Streamwood coach Ryan Lasota said. “It seemed like we were in an 0-1 hole the whole day. We made some mental mistakes that made the first-game (score) worse than it was. We’re just not generating offense and made too many mental mistakes.”

Kevin Sojda and Danny Moran had base hits for Streamwood in its last at-bat in the nightcap.

  St. Charles East’s Isaac Nimick (13) is greeted at the plate after knocking one out of the park during baseball action Saturday at Streamwood. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles East’s Nicholas Erickson Saturday at Streamwood. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles East’s Nick Huskisson delivers to the plate Saturday at Streamwood. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood’s Michael Smith, 11 pulls in a grounder Saturday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Streamwood’s Jeremy Campbell delivers to the plate Saturday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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