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Muskies play despite forfeit win  Share
The Beecher Muskies baseball team (22-16) went 2-3 in the week ending July 19. The week started with a forfeit win over the Chicago Zephyrs, when the Zephyrs had only five players available to play at Homewood Flossmoor High School. But that didn't stop the teams from playing. Mike Henderson, Brian Bajer, Tim Kerouac and Jason Squier joined the Zephyr five. The Muskies would win 6-0 behind the two-hit pitching of Andy Marquie and Dave Jones (Crete). The Muskies would score a run in the first inning. Brett Velon walked to open the inning and stole second. He reached third on a wild pitch and scored on Marty Coyle's sacrifice fly to center. With one out in the third inning, Dave Blomberg (Beecher HS) doubled into the left centerfield gap. A groundout to second by Steve Pellack (LW East HS) advanced him to third and Coyle singled to left to score him for a 2-0 lead. The Muskies would tack on three runs in the fifth inning against teammate Tim Kerouac, now pitching for the Zephyrs. Kerouac opened the frame by hitting Dave Pellack (LW East HS) and walked Velon. A Blomberg groundout to second advanced the runners to second and third, and Steve Pellack plated brother Dave with an infield single. Velon stole third and came home when the catcher's throw to third went into left field, Steve Pellack advancing to second. A sharp single to left by Coyle moved Steve Pellack to third and he scored on an infield hit by Ryan Kopp for a 5-0 lead.
Blomberg switched sides and pitched the sixth inning for the Zephyrs. With one out, Tim Victor (Mokena) singled to left. An infield single by Dave Pellack and a single to center by Velon loaded the bases and brought up Blomberg's spot in the batting order. Brandon Dubois (Beecher) batted for Blomberg and Dave struck him out and appeared poised to escape the inning unscathed, but he hit the other Pellack brother, Steve, to force in the sixth run. Had the game counted, Marquie would have earned the victory hurling six shutout hits allowing two hits (one by Muskie teammate Bajer), striking out eight with one walk. Jones finished up, pitching the seventh in the shortened game, retiring the side in order. Coyle recorded two of the Muskies eight hits, with Velon scoring twice and Steve Pellack and Coyle each driving in two runs. On July 15, the Muskies traveled to Judson University in Elgin to take on the host Crystal Lake Cardinals. Despite a quick start, the Muskies fell 5-2. The Muskies scored both of their runs in the first inning. Velon walked and scored on Blomberg's triple into the 395-foot left center field gap. Steve Pellack would score Blomberg with a sacrifice fly to left. Singles by Coyle and Kopp put runners on first and second as the Muskies looked to add more in the inning, but Coyle was doubled off second on Bajer's flyout to right to end the inning. The Cardinals starting pitcher would settle down and restrict the Muskies to three hits over the next seven innings. Meanwhile the Cardinals would take the lead with a four-run third inning against starter Dillon Roark and added one more in the fifth. After TJ Stanfield (Frankfort LW Central HS) got the Muskies' last hit in the fifth inning, the Cardinal starter would retire the next 11 Muskies before Blomberg reached on a two-out walk in the eighth inning. Roark took the loss, pitching five innings yielding five runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Brett Kribbs followed Roark hurling two shutout innings with one hit, two strikeouts and no walks. Steve Styck pitched the eighth allowing no runs on two hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Coyle had two of the Muskies' seven hits, with Velon and Blomberg scoring the runs. Blomberg and Steve Pellack each drove in a run. On July 16, the Muskies lost 8-3 to the Chicago Wildcats before returning to Sippel Field in Beecher for a doubleheader against the Vee Pak Hawks on July 19. The Muskies entertained residents of Good Shepard Manor in Momence and treated them to a 6-4 victory in game one. They saw a solid pitching performance from Dubois and Styck. Brandon pitched five innings for the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits with a strikeout and no walks. Styck relieved and went the last two innings yielding a run on no hits with two strikeouts and two walks. The Muskies backed Dubois with a four-run first inning. Velon ripped a double into the left centerfield gap to get things started. Blomberg walked and Dan Weltmeyer (Manteno) singled to left to load the bases. The Hawk pitcher became his own worst enemy when he uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Velon with the games first run. Coyle walked to reload the bases and Kopp walked to force in Blomberg. Weltmeyer would then score on another wild pitch, and Coyle would come home on yet another for a 4-0 lead. Dubois yielded a leadoff home run in the second, but that was matched by the Muskies in the bottom of the frame when Velon launched a 3-1 pitch over the left centerfield fence for a 5-1 lead. The Hawks would score twice in the third inning to close to 5-3, but the Muskies would extend the lead to three with a fifth inning score. Tim Kerouac drew a leadoff walk to open the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ryan Lardi then sacrificed him to third. Mike Henderson would quickly plate him with single to left. Styck would yield a sixth inning run for the 6-4 final. Velon would lead the seven-hit attack with three hits (home run and two doubles) with Weltmeyer getting two singles. Velon also scored twice to complete an excellent day at the plate. Between games, the Muskies autographed balls for the Good Shepard Manor residents and Henderson even played a game of catch with one. The Hawks would bounce back to take game two 5-2 scoring a run in their first at bat and two unearned in the third inning against Muskies' starter Juan Desiderio (Grant Park). The Muskies would get one back in the fourth on a shot over the fence in left center by Lardi. Desiderio would allow another run in the fifth that was matched in the bottom of the inning by the Muskies. In the fifth, Coyle and Kopp walked with one out. Todd Sippel (Beecher) singled to load the bases and after Lardi lined out sharply to center, Henderson walked to force in Coyle. Frank Calderone (Crete) would yield a run in the top of the seventh for a 5-2 Hawk advantage. The Muskies would bring the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Kopp walked (his fifth of the doubleheader) and Sippel singled to right. But Lardi's liner up the middle was speared by the Hawk shortstop who doubled Kopp off second to end the game. Desiderio took the loss pitching five innings, yielding just one earned run on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Calderone pitched the last two innings allowing one run (earned) on three hits with two walks. Sippel had two of the Muskies' five hits with Lardi and Henderson driving in the Muskies' runs. Russell Publications prints several community newspapers each week, serving Will, Kankakee and Cook counties.
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