On Warm Day, Fenwick Baseball Heats Up

The Fenwick baseball team has warmed up with the weather.

The Friars ran their winning streak to seven with a 7-3 triumph over visiting De La Salle in the Chicago Catholic League White Division on a beautiful Monday afternoon at the Priory in River Forest.

The offensive output was indicative of how the team has been hitting during its roll.

“It must be the nice weather that’s helping the bats take off,” said Fenwick senior third baseman Quinn Collins, who went three for four with a double, two RBI and two runs.

Senior designated player Mike Trucco helped power the winners with a pair of RBI singles.

According to Friars coach Dave Hogan, his team has been helped by the warmer weather mainly by finally being able to play a string of scheduled games without any cancellations. It’s allowed the hitters to find a groove.

“All we needed, and I’m sure every high school team will tell you the same thing, we just needed consecutive games,” said Hogan, whose club has taken control of the top spot in the White Division. “You know, not play two and sit for three days. We’re hitting the ball. Two weeks ago we were averaging leaving nine guys on base.”

Now the Friars (15-10, 11-6) are receiving timely hitting.

It started in the bottom of the first inning when pitcher Tyler Sewall doubled with two outs and Trucco followed with an RBI single that put the home team up 1-0.

After Fenwick scored an unearned run in the second, it added two more runs in the third on Collins’ RBI double and Brendan Fitzgerald’s RBI single to make it 4-0.

De La Salle (15-10, 8-9) touched Sewall for a run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Pat Haynes and Mark Munizzi.

But Fenwick wasn’t done swinging the bats. Collins and Sewall led off the fifth with singles. Then Trucco’s RBI single and Nicholas Johnson’s sacrifice fly gave the Friars a 6-1 lead against De La Salle’s No. 1 pitcher, Anthony Shimkus.

Sewall pitched into the sixth before giving way to Bill Meyer. Two De La Salle runs were charged to Sewall in the inning, but both were unearned. The senior starting pitcher allowed seven hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out one on the way to improving to 2-3.

“He’s been kind of a hard-luck pitcher,” Hogan said. “He’s faced all the big guys. His three losses were all big games and we didn’t have any practice beforehand. He did good before just running out of gas. That’s a nice hitting club. Their first four hitters can go on anybody’s club.”

The victory gave the Friars a two-game series sweep over De La Salle. They beat the Meteors 8-3 on May 7 in Chicago.

“Every year they’re always in the mix,” De La Salle coach Nick Bridich said. “Whatever happens early on with them doesn’t mean a whole lot. They’re usually competitive at the end of the year, and they have been.

“They get something done with runners in scoring position. They move runners. They do a great job of doing some of that kind of stuff. They did it today all day. They did it the other day.”

It was a measure of payback for Fenwick, which lost to the Meteors 6-2 in the Class 4A Fenwick regional final last season.

“It feels good to come back and beat them twice this year,” Collins said.