Baseball: Falcons Take It To DGS

DOWNERS GROVE – After struggling during a spring trip to Memphis, Wheaton North has returned home, and regained their bearings.

The Falcons hung a 6-1 non-conference loss on one of the Chicago area’s top teams, Downers Grove South, Monday to improve to 2-0 on the season.

“I think they’re still considered one of the top teams in the area,” Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling said of DGS. “That’s not going to change. But that’s a great win for us. We faced some really good teams (in Memphis) and we didn’t play that well. We struggled defensively. Since we’ve been back, we’ve been playing a little bit better defensively. It’s changed our whole approach to the game. We’ve been in a little bit more of a rhythm now. It just seems like everything is a little bit better now than it was last week.”

It was a combination of solid pitching from Eric Scandora (3-2) and some hot bats on a cold day offensively against one of the better pitchers in the area, Downers South senior Matt Wivinis (1-1).

Scandora was efficient in going the distance. He allowed a leadoff triple to Kyle Engel in the first, which led to the lone run for Downers South (4-4). After that, he settled in. He scattered five hits, walked one and struck out three.

“I just settled down and spotted my pitches,” Scandora said. “It was real easy when the offense picked me up. It’s real easy to pitch when you’re ahead. The curveball and slider were working really well and I was able to spot my fastball.”

Wivinis is one of the top seniors in the state, but he struggled on the mound for Downers South Monday. Unable to throw his changeup effectively, and missing his spots with his fastball, the Falcons were able to tag him to the tune of six runs on 10 hits in the first six innings.

An RBI single from Jeff Schalk and an RBI double from Nick Barry got the Falcons off to a 2-0 lead in the first, a lead they would not relinquish. Ryan Kent delivered an RBI double in the second and Jake Schieber crushed a two-run home run in the third to open a 5-1 lead.

“The top of the lineup got their pitches,” Schoessling said. “(Wivinis) hits his spots pretty well, but when he made a mistake, it seemed like we capitalized on it pretty well. That was probably the key.”

Downers South returned from its own spring break trip to Arizona late Friday night and followed that up with a doubleheader against Hinsdale Central Saturday morning and Monday’s game. But Mustangs coach Darren Orel didn’t use that as an excuse.

“They’re good,” Orel said of Wheaton North. “They can swing it. They got some guys that put some really good swings on it. I don’t think Wivinis was anywhere near his best today, that’s for sure. We were a little shell shocked that they hit the ball that well. But I’m not making excuses. They were just better today, there’s no question about it.”