Baseball: Fremd holds off Palatine in MSL slugfest
The only thing that stopped Palatine and Fremd from scoring runs Wednesday was sunset.
The crosstown rivals combined for 30 runs on 28 hits while 47 batters reached base on a day the gusty wind was blowing straight out to center field in Palatine. Fremd rallied to come away with a 19-11 win in a game that was called after six innings due to darkness.
Fremd had 15 hits, including three homers and four doubles. Every Fremd batter had at least one hit and scored at least one run. Eight different players tallied at least one RBI.
"Very crazy game," Fremd coach Chris Piggott said. "The wind was blowing out and there was a lot of offense and weird stuff happening. We have been swinging it pretty well. We scored enough today."
The win gave Fremd (6-4-1, 2-0) a sweep of the two-game season series with Palatine (4-6, 0-2) as the teams opened up MSL West play. Fremd won Monday's game 9-1.
"It is always good to beat your crosstown rival," Piggott said. "We have a lot of respect for each other. The kids all grow up together. It is a game you always want to win."
Quinn Nelson led the offensive charge for the Vikings. He had three hits, including a home run and a double and drove in three runs.
Nelson's two-run home run sparked a four-run first inning for Fremd. But Nelson, who was the starting pitcher for the Vikings, was tagged for four runs in the bottom of the first and five runs in the second as the Pirates surged ahead 9-4.
"Everyone was telling me not to hang my head and to play both sides of the field," Nelson said. "They picked me up. I just had to flush it and take care of business."
Undaunted, Fremd batted around in the next two innings. The Vikings sent 11 batters to the plate in the third, scoring six runs. They then came back in the following inning and sent 12 batters to the plate and plated eight runs to open up an 18-9 lead.
"I was just trying to see the ball deep and make contact and hit the ball hard," said Brayden Mosley, who had three hits, including a three-run homer in the fourth.
"It was fun game for us. We battled back real well."
Meanwhile, Ryan Gleson, who was making just his second appearance of the season, was able to stymie Palatine in the final four innings. He allowed just two runs while striking out four.
Johnny O'Brien and Cooper Nelson each had two hits and three RBI for Fremd while Yuhki Yamada had two hits, a sacrifice fly and two RBI.
Palatine was led by Toby Peterson, who had three hits and four RBI, including a three-run homer. Aiden Wilmer had two hits and four RBI, including a long two-run home run that hit the scoreboard over the left field fence.
Nate Branch had two hits, including a two-run home and Sean Wasserman had two hits and two runs scored.
"We talked about it during batting practice and getting to the bottom of the ball and elevating it," Palatine coach Paul Belo said. "We were fortunate to do that early. They brought in a kid whose pitch had a little sink on it and weren't able to get to the bottom half from there."