Baseball: Tenuta hits, pitches St. Francis past Wheaton Academy

It took one swing of the bat, just three batters into Tuesday's key Metro Suburban Conference game, for St. Francis to take a big step toward a big win, as well as a giant step toward a conference title.

All-state third baseman/pitcher Rocco Tenuta blasted a 2-run homer over the fence in left center field for a quick 2-0 lead at Wheaton Academy. Tenuta then pitched the final 1.1 innings in relief to save a 3-1 win over the Warriors.

Each team entered play with impressive overall records and 5-1 marks in their conference, and each team's starting pitcher was sharp. Spartans starter Peter Lemke, who committed to play at Dennison University the previous day, tossed 5.2 scoreless frames to pick up his fourth win of the year. He outdueled Warrior righty Alex Bagley, who pitched 6-plus solid innings but fell to 5-1 in large part to Tenuta's first-inning blast.

"I heard their catcher talking, saying 'Nothing too good. Nothing too good,'" Tenuta said of his first at-bat. "Then I saw him shake off three pitches. I was like how many pitches can he have? So I knew a fastball was coming and it was there and I hit it. It felt really good."

With Lemke - and then Tenuta - pitching so well, the homer proved to be more than enough offense on this day. St. Francis (17-4, 6-1) led 3-0 before the Warriors (20-4-1, 5-2) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh and brought the tying run to the plate before a Tenuta strike out ended the game.

"I knew when we got the early run support ... I felt comfortable on the mound. I knew I could hold them from not getting much and that early run support is a boost for morale," said Lemke (4-2).

"The defense played great behind me, and Rocco has been great for us all year so that 2-run homer is not really a surprise."

Lemke slowed a potent Warriors attack with a combination of cutters and change-ups early, and added a moving sinker that led to a lot of groundballs. The Spartans kept the shutout in tact in the fifth when catcher Joey Gainer chased down an errant pitch and connected with Lemke at the plate to nail a runner trying to score from third base with two on and two out.

"Props to them. They capitalized on opportunities that they had," said Warriors coach Justin Swider, whose team will get another crack at the Spartans Friday at St. Francis. "We had some opportunities and we just didn't make the play at the time. It was two great baseball teams. One has to win and one has to lose."

St. Francis increased its lead to 3-0 in the second inning with a 2-out rally that was capped by Zack Maduzia's RBI single. The sophomore shortstop had two hits, a walk and a stolen base from the leadoff spot Tuesday and is part of a superb defensive infield.

With a solid defense and Tenuta coming out of the pen, St. Francis coach Tom Ciombor likes his chances any time his squad grabs a quick lead like it did on Tuesday.

"These guys always play us tough," the Spartans coach said of Wheaton Academy. "I thought their pitcher did a great job, but he ran into Rocco. Rocco's a 2-time all-stater for a reason, probably be a 3-time all-stater. In some ways when you do that [grab early lead] you feel like it's a 5-inning game. Rocco's ERA is like 0.30, so [a lead] gives us a big shot."