|
Beecher Muskies third in Joliet tourney  Share
The Muskies baseball team (18-10) took third place at the Joliet Fourth of July shootout posting a 3-2 record in the double elimination tournament July 1-5. They opened the tournament with a 7-2 victory against the Joliet Jayhawks in a game played over two days. The game played at Joliet Junior College, which has no lights, was suspended after six innings with Beecher up 7-2. The Muskies scored an unearned run to open the scoring in the top of the second inning. Ryan Lardi was safe on an error and raced to third when the Jayhawks pitchers pickoff attempt was thrown down the first base line. Todd Sippel (Beecher) then scored him with a sacrifice fly to left. The Jayhawks would score a run in the fifth inning off of Andy Marquie to tie the game at 1-1. A six-run sixth inning would put the Muskies ahead to stay. Steve Pellack (L-W East) and Dan Weltmeyer (Manteno) were safe on infield singles. TJ Stanfield's (Frankfort) sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown away with Pellack scoring on the play. Lardi singled up the middle to score Weltmeyer and Beecher led 3-1. A single by Sippel would bring Stanfield home and Todd advanced to second on an error by the centerfielder on the play. Tim Kerouac would draw a walk and both Sippel and Kerouac would score on a triple to left by Brett Velon for a 6-1 Muskie advantage. A single to left by Dave Blomberg (Beecher HS) would plate Velon with the last run of the inning. Marquie would yield a run in the bottom of the inning before play was suspended due to darkness. The game resumed July 2 at Lewis University in Romeoville. Brett Kribbs pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Marquie as the Muskies wrapped up the 7-2 victory.
Velon led an 11-hit attack with three hits with Blomberg and Steve Pellack each registering two hits each. Velon and Sippel each had two runs batted in. Marquie got the win hurling six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with nine strikeouts and five walks. Kribbs finished up with three innings pitched yielding no runs on one hit with a strikeout and a walk. The same night the Muskies took on the Vee Pak Hawks in game two of the tournament. Juan Desiderio (Grant Park) took the mound for Beecher and got off to a slow start, allowing three runs in the first inning and one (unearned) in the second. The Muskies cut that lead in half in the top of the third inning. Dave Pellack led off with a single to right and Velon singled to left. Blomberg grounded into a 5-4-3 double play with Pellack advancing to third. Weltmeyer drove Pellack in with a single and then scored on Marty Coyle's double into the right centerfield gap to cut the margin to 4-2. The Muskies added an unearned run in the fourth. Steve Pellack reached on an error to open the inning. Sippel singled him to third and Mike Henderson brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center. The Muskies then tied the game in the fifth on consecutive singles by Blomberg, Weltmeyer and Coyle, with Blomberg scoring on Coyle's shot up the middle. Meanwhile Desiderio settled in and hurled 4-2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, leaving with two out in the sixth inning. Frank Calderone (Crete) came out of the bullpen and pitched 1-1/3 innings keeping the score tied at four apiece. This game would prove to be a frustrating one for the Muskie hitters who would register 17 hits, but score just four times. They had the lead run in scoring position in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings but couldn't get the run across. An unearned run against Steve Styck in the bottom of the ninth would end the game. After an error and a walk, along with a stolen base and a throwing error put runners at first and third with no outs, Styck got a called third strike for the first out. Beecher chose to walk the Hawks' three hitter and Styck looked poised to pitch out of the jam striking out the Hawks cleanup hitter. But the next hitter singled through the right side to plate the game winner. Weltmeyer topped the Muskie hitters with four hits, with Coyle adding three and Velon, Blomberg, Henderson and Dave Pellack getting two each. Coyle drove in two of the Muskies' four runs. Now in the losers bracket, the Muskies returned to Lewis for a 2 p.m. game on July 3 against the Oak Forest Shooters. For the second straight game against the Shooters the Muskies defeated them by the 10-run mercy rule, this time 10-0. Later that evening, the Muskies faced the Joliet Senators. This would be another big victory margin as they defeated the Senators 10-1. The Muskies got all the runs they would need in their first at bat. Henderson led off with a single and Stanfield walked. Weltmeyer forced Stanfield at second with Henderson taking third. Coyle's grounder to second was booted with Henderson scoring and Weltmeyer reaching third base. Lardi then scored Weltmeyer with a sacrifice fly to left for a 2-0 lead. The Muskies would add a run in the third after two were out. Coyle singled to left and the Senator left fielder let the ball get by him and Coyle raced all the way to third. Lardi would follow with a single to score Coyle. Meanwhile starter Brandon Dubois (Beecher) would keep the Senators off the scoreboard for the first three innings before yielding a run in the fourth. Beecher got that right back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sippel led off with a single up the middle and Brian Bajer sacrificed him to second. A Dave Pellack single would then score Sippel. The fifth inning would see the Muskies score three more times to extend their lead to 7-1. Weltmeyer and Coyle opened the inning with singles and Lardi sacrificed them to second and third. Jason Squier (Beecher) would score Weltmeyer with a single up the middle. After a walk to Sippel, Bajer would drive in Coyle with an infield single, with Sippel reaching third. Dave Pellack's sacrifice fly to center scored Sippel for the final run of the inning. The sixth would be another three-run inning for the Muskies. A walk to Stanfield opened the frame with Weltmeyer reaching on an infield single. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and another wild pitch scored Stanfield. Coyle was safe on a fielders' choice and the runners moved to second and third on Lardi's groundout. Both then scored on a single to right by Sippel. Dubois pitched through the seventh inning before yielding to Calderone who pitched the 8th, with Dillon Roark coming in to pitch the ninth. Dubois recorded the victory allowing one run on six hits, striking out five with no walks and one hit batsman. Calderone allowed no runs, no hits with one walk. Roark yielded no runs, one hit with two strikeouts and one walk. Weltmeyer, Coyle, Sippel and Bajer each had two hits, with Bajer a perfect two for two with a walk and a sacrifice bunt. Weltmeyer and Coyle each scored three times with Sippel and Dave Pellack each driving in two runs. The tournament took the fourth off and Beecher resumed play on July 5, back at Joliet Junior College. The Muskies were eliminated, losing to the Bluejays 3-1. The Jays' Mike Kane throttled the Muskie bats, scattering six hits, only two of which reached the outfield. The Bluejays scored one in the third and twice in the fourth off of losing pitcher Bill Nelson. The Muskies would score their only run, an unearned one in the 6th inning. Dave Pellack was safe on an error by the Jays third baseman and went to third on Weltmeyers double to right. After Coyle and Lardi made outs, Stanfield walked to load the bases. An infield single by Sipple would plate Pellack with the Muskies' only run. Nelson took the loss yielding three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and six walks in six innings of work. Roark relieved and pitched the seventh and eighth, allowing no runs on no hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Weltmeyer had two of the Muskies' six hits. Russell Publications prints several community newspapers each week, serving Will, Kankakee and Cook counties.
|
This Week's Front Page »
Related Stories »
|
