Benet brings its bats, sweeps at Carmel

As the weather warms up, so do the Benet Academy bats.

The Redwings (8-4) won a doubleheader last week by a combined score of 36-3.

The searing swinging continued as Benet arrived in Mundelein on Saturday afternoon.

In the opening game of the East Suburban Catholic Conference matchup, Benet beat Carmel Catholic 11-1. The hitting barrage extended into Game 2 as the Redwings had 11 hits in the first two innings in a 9-3 sweep of a good Carmel squad.

Carmel's only good news of the day came when senior pitcher Bryan Stanislawski entered the game in the second inning. As if someone popped a balloon, there went the powerful Benet offense.

Stanislawski's standout relief work on the mound softened the difficult day. He pitched 4 scoreless and hitless frames.

"He really mixed up his pitches,'' Benet leadoff hitter Anthony Rendina. "He was pitching side-arm, and that made it tough."

Stanislawski credited his fastball, change-up and curve for his success. However, he would like to see his team a little more excited to play.

"Not everyone was focused today,'' he said. "It took us too long to get ready. We usually start better than that."

Carmel's offense had better luck in Game 2. Andrew Wienke drove in his team's first run in the fourth. Carmel's two-out rally produced a run in the sixth inning as shortstop Andrew Kantor supplied the RBI hit. Carmel chased winner Pat Peterson in the seventh when Cooper Johnson drove in Carmel's third run, but Chris Whelan shut the door for Benet.

What bothered Carmel coach Dann Giesey most was his team's defensive lapse in the first game debacle. Just count up the errors, as Giesey did, and that number reached seven.

Carmel's pitching wasn't great, either, in Game 1. Rendina reached base four times on a single, one walk and two hit-by-pitches. And he was just glad to have a chance to play for his heavy-hitting squad.

"I've been fighting for a spot,'' he said. "We are really coming together."

Benet's winning pitcher in Game 2 was the right-hander, Peterson. The Dartmouth-bound senior struck out the side to open the festivities.

He repeated that task again in the fourth inning and finished with 10 strikeouts with 5 walks. It certainly helped his cause when the Redwings opened a quick 9-0 lead.

"Pitching with this much offense made it easier,'' Peterson said. "I just let them hit it."

Peterson's so-called slurve was effective.

"I try to get it so it breaks to the outside,'' Peterson said.

Since Stanislawski shut down the Benet offense, all that batting noise came in the first two frames. Rendina singled and scored twice in that two-inning surge. Third baseman Joe Boyle did likewise, and No. 8 hitter Charlie Weidenbach also singled twice and drove in a run.

For a team sitting with just 2 losses entering the twin bill, the Corsairs (11-4) had a trying day.

"It was a rough day,'' Giesey said. "We knew coming in that they could swing the bats. They had their way with us. Most disappointing was those 7 errors in Game 1."

In the first game, Benet's Connor Hickey scored twice and had a pair of singles. Whelan singled and doubled. Carmel's Quinten Sefcik singled and walked. Joe Santoro drove in Carmel's lone run with a sacrifice fly.