Beecroft rips home run in win against Wheaton.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The 
had another strong week, this time recording wins against Kenosha and Wheaton.
After an early week cancellation against Streator (Streator had to make up a game in its conference instead) and a 10-0 conference forfeit win against Frankfort (Frankfort only had 7 players), Post 187 got back to work at Plunkett Athletic Complex with a 7-1 victory over Kenosha.
Brendan Connell (York) went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a stolen base. Tim Beecroft (Fenton) went 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBI. Elmwood Park’s Ray Abarca went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a double, while York’s Mike Bernal was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
IC Catholic Prep’s CJ Slowinski was the winning pitcher. He threw a seven-inning complete game and allowed only five hits and no earned runs, while fanning two and walking none. He needed only 84 pitches to pick up the victory.
“CJ did very well,” said Post 187 coach Mike Biondo. “He came in and challenged hitters and kept them at bay. He did very good on the mound.”
Elmhurst then headed to Carol Stream to face longtime district foe Wheaton in a game played behind the Legion hall. Elmhurst jumped out to a 6-0 lead at one point. Wheaton cut the lead to 6-2 in the fourth inning. Beecroft hit an over-the-fence home run in the fifth to put the Muddogs up 7-2. Elmhurst tacked on another run and Wheaton countered with two in the sixth to cut it 8-4 and then scored three in the bottom of the seventh to make it close with Post 187 still prevailing by an 8-7 count.
“We were able to pull it out,” said Biondo, whose team had nine players available for the Wheaton game.
Fenton’s Alejandro Orosco went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a stolen base. Beecroft went 2-for-4 with the solo home run, two runs scored and a stolen base. York’s Tamaine Durr went 1-for-2 with a run scored, two RBI and a stolen base.
Orosco was the winning pitcher. He moved his record to 1-1 after going 5 2/3 innings. He allowed eight hits and two earned runs, while striking out four and walking none.
York’s Nick Lee pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up the save.
The wins put Elmhurst at 10-4 overall.
“We hit the ball very well (last week),” said Biondo. “Our pitching is still there. We just need to take care of the baseball. Everything is falling into place lately. The hitting and pitching have been good. If we take care of the baseball we should be fine. We should have won that Wheaton game 8-0 if we had taken care of the baseball. The last week of the regular season is coming off and then it’s the playoffs. I think we will be ready.”
Post 187 returned to action after the Fourth of July with a game against Mt. Prospect Post 525. Elmhurst is scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Plunkett against Round Lake Post 1977 before facing Frankfort in a doubleheader Sunday starting at 1 p.m. at Main Park in Frankfort.
