Orze quiets Geneva's bats
Glenbard North gave starting pitcher Eric Orze all the offensive support he was going to need three hitters into its Class 4A Geneva regional final matchup with the host Vikings.
Panther second baseman Nick Barrett, after falling behind in the count 0-2, ripped a 3-run home run to left-center field. Orze would scatter four hits and allow just one run in a complete game 3-1 victory for the No. 4 seeded Panthers and a matchup with No. 1 St. Charles North Wednesday at the St. Charles East sectional.
"Eric led off the inning with a single," said Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko. "Nolan (Jasinski) followed him with a single and we had a hit and run so we had first and third and Nick barreled one up for us with two strikes on him, against the wind. It was a huge hit."
"I just threw my hands at the ball, I had a two-strike approach, and sometimes it works out for me," said Barrett of his home run.
It was certainly working out for Orze (11-0) as he only allowed one runner to get past second base while striking out seven Vikings. He did not walk a batter.
"Eric is a good pitcher for us," said Smelko. "He throws multiple pitches for strikes, he pounds the strike zone, gets ahead in the count. He has a good fastball and locates his pitches very well."
"I was locating my fastball pretty well," said Orze. "I was trying to keep the ball down, stay ahead of guys and let my defense work because I have all the confidence in the world in them. They always do the job."
Geneva (21-12) also received a fine pitching performance for its starter, Ben Slattery. Slattery allowed just one hit after the first inning while striking out six and walking one.
"You can't ask anything more out of your starting pitcher," said Geneva coach Matt Hahn. "He gave us a chance to win and put us in a good position late in the game. Unfortunately we ran into the player of the year in the DVC. He (Orze) was fantastic, our guy was fantastic. If he could get one pitch back, it might be a different game."
Geneva's only real threat came in the top of the fifth inning when Mitchell Merges led off with a single up the middle and Vincent McDonald sacrificed him to second.
Justin Soeldner singled to left driving in Merges and giving Geneva some life but Orze induced a grounder back to the mound and the Panthers (24-10) executed a perfect 1-6-3 double play. Orze did not allow another base runner.
The Panthers lost in the regional finals last year to St. Charles North and were aware after the game that they had earned a rematch with the North Stars.
"Winning the regional title means a lot," said Smelko. "I think we lost 2-1 in nine innings or something along those lines, so it was a tight game (last year to St. Charles North). They have a good team and we're up for the challenge."
"We were focused on winning the regional championship," said Orze. "But it gave us a little extra motivation to know that we might see St. Charles North in the next round after falling a game short to them last year."