Baseball: Glenbard East gets edge on South Elgin

With first place on the line in the opener of a three-game baseball showdown with South Elgin, Glenbard East was happy to have Michael Sebby on the mound.

The senior left-hander improved to 8-0 on the spring, tossing a complete game to lead the Rams to a 9-2 win in the Upstate Eight Valley matchup on Monday in Lombard.

The series shifts to South Elgin on Tuesday, with Glenbard East (23-7, 16-2) now up a game in the loss column on the Storm (17-7, 14-3).

"Anytime he is on the mound he gives us an opportunity to be in the ballgame and win it," Glenbard East coach Joel Pelland said. "He's a special player."

The visitors actually touched up Sebby for 5 hits and 2 runs over the first two innings, scoring on an RBI triple by Bryant Diel and an RBI double by Justin Howard.

But from there he settled down, yielding just three baserunners over the final four innings. Sebby fanned five.

"I started throwing my change-up more and getting some early outs," said the Illinois State recruit. "And we scored some runs. I knew this game was important and once we got some runs, the nerves went away and I just had to throw strikes."

Sebby's double knotted the score at 2 in the third. Glenbard East took the lead for good in the fourth, with freshman Bret Bushka knocking in a pair with a two-out single. Rich Masciopinto followed with an RBI double.

The Rams put the game away in the sixth when Joey Moore cranked out a grand slam.

"We had it going, we had a couple of chances early to get further ahead," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said. "The only good thing about it is it's a three-game series. They played a good game today. We will be right back at it and we will be ready."