Baseball: West Aurora comes back to nip St. Charles East
An already good week for West Aurora baseball turned great with Saturday's 5-4 come-from-behind win at St. Charles East.
The Blackhawks scored twice in the sixth to tie, once in seventh to regain the lead and relief pitcher Jacob Pavey retired the Saints in order to close it out.
The Upstate Eight victory caps a 5-1 week for West Aurora (11-6, 4-4). The Blackhawks won UEC crossovers against Larkin, Batavia and St. Charles East and took 2 out of 3 from Valley Division rival South Elgin.
"We've just put it together, the hitting, pitching," center fielder Jake Gray said. "We've been struggling a little bit defensively, but we're pretty good."
The Blackhawks committed 3 errors Saturday but allowed only 1 unearned run behind starting pitcher Eddie Wilson and relievers Paulo Marovilla (1-0) and Pavey. Wilson worked out of trouble often. The senior gave up 4 runs (3 earned) in 4⅔ innings.
St. Charles East senior Brett Brueske pitched well enough to win. The defense behind him did not. The left-hander threw 99 pitches over 6 innings, allowed 6 hits, walked 3 and struck out 4, but the 4 runs charged to him were unearned because the Saints (10-7-1, 8-3) extended an unwanted trend of poor defense. They committed 6 errors, upping the total to 21 in 4 games.
"Our defense has been terrible this whole week," said St. Charles East coach Len Asquini, whose team is 3-2 since Monday. "Hopefully, we can turn it around next week. We need that airtight defense back."
The Saints erased a 2-0 first-inning deficit with single runs in the second and third innings. They took the lead with a 2-run fourth. Freshman Kyle Hayes' run-scoring single and Thomas Schroeder's sacrifice fly keyed the rally. Hayes and Charlie Charpentier each went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in a run.
The Blackhawks roared back in the sixth. Pavey flared a single to short-right field with two runners in scoring position to draw within 4-3. Senior Dustin Tomas then tied the game with a sacrifice fly, scoring catcher Cameron Zimmerman.
Gray made the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the sixth to keep the score tied. The Saints had a runner on second base with one out when Cole Conn singled to center field. Courtesy runner Ryan Richa was sent to the plate, but an on-target, on-the-fly throw from Gray gave Zimmerman ample time to apply the tag.
"It was my opportunity to shine," Gray said, "so I got the ball, threw it to home and got him out. We had a tied ballgame and they needed that run so I was letting it go."
West Aurora's seventh inning began with junior Daniel Marion drawing a leadoff walk from reliever Alec Rupp (1-2). Courtesy runner Johnny Acevedo stole second and scurried to third when the catcher's throw sailed high for an error.
After a breaking ball nose-dived for a wild pitch two feet shy of 60 feet, 6 inches, Acevedo slid headfirst to score the winning run. He jogged back to a happy dugout wearing most of the dirt from the right-handed batter's like a badge of honor.
Pavey retired the Saints' 9-1-2 hitters on a lineout to left, a strikeout and a popup that shortstop Ryan Teuscher squeezed to end it.
The Blackhawks won without No. 3 hitter JJ Rivera and No. 5 hitter Adrian Ruiz. Rivera had a prearranged visit to register for college classes. He is hitting .420. Ruiz was scratched before the game due to a leg injury. He pinch hit and drew a walk before exiting for a pinch runner.
"Playing without your three and five hitters is kind of like playing cards with house money," West Aurora coach John Reeves said. "It worked out well. We'll take it."