Prep Baseball: Tigers Avoid Sweep, Upend Falcons

Coach Tim Brylka and the Tigers had taken their lumps the past few days in the DVC, falling to Naperville North last Friday and dropping a doubleheader to their cross-town rivals, Wheaton North, on Saturday.

But Monday’s 5-2 victory at Wheaton North helped ease the sting.

Tigers junior right-hander Andrew Hjellming worked out of bases-loaded jams in the fourth and sixth innings to pick up the victory. Jason Schuman came on in the seventh and earned the save, striking out two of the four hitters he faced.

“I had the curve ball working for me and I was able to jump out in front of batters with a first strike,” said Hjellming, who fanned five. “And my defense was working for me. They (Wheaton North) hit a lot of ground balls. It was nice to get back at them and not get swept by the conference rival. It was a good game today.”

In the first inning, it appeared as if the Falcons would pick up where they left off during their 11-8, 6-2 twin bill sweep of the Tigers.

Ryan Kent led off with a double. Consecutive singles by Reece Butler and hot-hitting (3-for-4) drove in Kent and gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead with runners at second and third and nobody out.

Later in the inning, Hjellming walked Micah Penn to load the bases, but got a forceout to end the inning.

Hjellming faced another base-loaded situation in the fourth after a Dale Trimble single, a walk and a hit batsman. However, Butler flew out deep to right, ending the threat.

The Tigers, who tied the contest 1-1 in the third when Kevin Bridges scored on a throwing error, broke it open in the sixth.

An infield error and a walk to Parker Ryndak set the stage for Jeremy Rhoades, whose grounder bounced 10 feet over the head of Wheaton North third baseman John Peltz and down the left-field line for an RBI double.

Catcher Rich O’Neil then delivered a two-run single, and the Tigers led 4-1.

“We did a nice job minimizing the damage when they got that first run,” said Brylka, whose team improves to 9-11, 5-6. “It could have been more. Huge hit by Richie to come through and give us the lead. After he had not looked great in his first two at-bats, he came through. A couple of errors on their part; they kicked the ball around a little bit and gave us some base runners; (it) gave us some life.”

The Falcons (12-5, 7-3) committed five errors on the afternoon.

“Tip your hat to them. They did a great job today,” said Wheaton North coach Dan Schoessling. “Just too many opportunities we let slip away. It started in the first inning and it just carried on. It’s just too bad.

"Eric (Scandora) pitched a great game and we didn’t support him offensively or defensively today. Five unearned runs, you’re not going to beat a good team doing that. That was the story. They got two-out hits today and we didn’t.”

Scandora went the distance for the Falcons, striking out nine.

The Tigers added another run in the seventh. RJ Hoshell opened with a single and eventually scored on Zach Jarosz’s sacrifice fly. Wheaton North closed the margin to 5-2 in the seventh as Penn’s single plated Kevin Fahy, who doubled to start the inning.

“We were able to take advantage of it today, which we hadn’t always been doing so it was good,” Brylka said. “Two days in a row we were scuffling a little bit. I’m proud of the kids the way they responded.”