Baseball: Mintz throws gem, Willowbrook win streak hits 16

It was still masterful.

Ryan Mintz lost his no-hitter in the fifth inning and his shutout in the seventh, but Willowbrook's senior right-hander was dominant right through to the end of Saturday's 4-1 West Suburban Gold victory at Downers Grove South.

Mintz fired a 2-hitter with 6 strikeouts, 3 walks, a hit batter and no earned runs allowed. The 16th straight win for Willowbrook (19-3, 14-0) was also the first for Mintz in three varsity starts against the Mustangs (11-10, 8-3).

"I was really just trying to pound the zone and then keep them off-balance," Mintz said. "It feels good to come out here and get the win against a team I haven't beaten before."

Willowbrook scored lone runs in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings as Mintz rolled through the innings with 10 groundball outs. Half went to shortstop Jack Hines.

An error allowed Downers South courtesy runner Sean Wagner to score from third in the bottom of the seventh. A pair of two-out walks brought the tying run to the plate, but Mintz - facing his last batter due to pitch-count rules - coaxed a flyout to right-fielder Anthony Yannotti to end it.

"We just didn't have many quality at-bats," said Mustangs coach Darren Orel. "We didn't really hit the ball very hard all day. I thought we pitched pretty well, but it was a situation where the better team won."

Yannotti singled home runs in the third and fifth inning off Mustangs starter Chris Gory. Two of Downers South's 3 errors allowed the other runs to score.

On the cusp of an unbeaten run through the Gold, Willowbrook has a three-game series with Leyden and a third game against Downers South remaining on the conference schedule.

"We've had guys step up and play," said Willowbrook coach Vic Wisner. "It's been that kind of year for us. We're playing with a lot of confidence right now. It's a full-team effort."

Twitter: @kevin_schmit