Dukes beat Westmont 10-0 in playoff opener.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The York summer baseball team concluded its season with a pair of games in the recent Phil Lawler summer state tournament hosted by the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association.
York opened regional play with a 10-0 victory over Westmont. York scored a run in the bottom of the first and then opened the flood gates with eight runs in the second. The game lasted five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Andrew Deardurff scored a run. Ryan Ross was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk. Timmy Bowbin had a walk. Joey Jaeger had a run scored and an RBI. Mike Pastuovic went 1-for-1 with a run scored, two RBI and a walk. Ted Miller scored a run. Anthony Scalzitti had a hit, a run scored and an RBI. Joey Chiappetta had a hit, a run scored and an RBI.
Dan Pierotti had two hits and an RBI. Ian Steinorth had two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Joe Orrico had a hit and an RBI. Bo Tomas had a hit, while Dan Brown walked and scored a run. Pierotti doubled: Steinorth’s hit was a triple.
York also stole seven bases with Pastuovic and Ross each swiping two.
Charlie Pakenas was the winning pitcher.
“We hit and pitched well,” said York coach Dave Kalal. “Our kids came out and hit the ball well. The eight runs in the second were all we needed. They did a great job.”
York then was eliminated from the playoffs after a 5-3 loss in eight innings to West Suburban Conference Silver Division foe Glenbard West. York finished the summer with a 10-9 record.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first inning and remained that way until both teams each scored two runs in their half of the seventh. York tied it and ultimately sent the game into extra innings when Pastuovic logged an RBI single.
Glenbard scored two runs in the eighth.
Deardurff scored a run and walked once. Chris Lee also scored a run and walked once. Ross had a hit and a run scored. Pastuovic went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Chiappetta walked once. Steinorth walked three times. Thomas had a hit. One of Pastuovic’s hit was a double. He also stole a base.
Jake Hadawi threw 7 1/3 innings. He allowed four on 14 hits, while striking out three and walking one. He threw 113 pitches, with 72 going for strikes. Glenbard West stranded 12 runners in the contest.
“The Glenbard West game was a really good game,” said York coach Dave Kalal. “It was fun. It was good competition and our kids battled. It’s a little disappointing that we didn’t advance, but I was not unhappy with how we played. Glenbard West outhit us. Jake kept us in the game and pitched out of some jams. Guys were getting on base and he got out of it. He did a phenomenal job. It was a good high-school baseball game. We just didn’t match Glenbard offensively. They are going to be a good team next spring.”
Kalal was extremely pleased with how the summer unfolded.
“We saw a lot of kids this summer,” he said. “We had 40 kids playing in the summer on the varsity. We saw kids in a lot of situations both offensively and defensively and on the mound. We saw them in a lot of situational stuff. We saw if a kid could handle things if they were a pinch-hitter or if we asked them to put down a bunt or how they handled themselves on the bases. We got a good overall view of what we have.”
Kalal said the coaching staff will have some decisions to make next spring.
“It’s going to be tough next spring,” he said. “We have to choose a team with a lot of good players to choose from. Our numbers are good. That’s going to be the challenge for the coaching staff next spring.”
Kalal lauded the efforts of Orrico at catcher as well as Clayton Letourneau and Will Rand.
“Joe really did a nice job for us,” said Kalal. “He worked at it this summer. It was nice to see him taking instruction and learning. He got better as a receiver and he put the ball in play when he was at the plate. Clayton opened our eyes as well and showed us what he can do and Will had a good summer. Kids like them showed us some good things and so did a lot of other guys. We will have some tough decisions to make next spring about who is going to make the roster.”
Kalal also is encouraged by the number of multisport athletes that are on the team.
“It nice to see so many guys who also play football and basketball,” he said. “It nice to see two-sport athletes, which I feel is so important at the high-school level. Guys who are playing a varsity sport in the fall or the winter helps us because they come in here and they understand the competitiveness and the speed of the game.”
The coach is looking forward to the spring of 2018.
“We have 16 guys back from this past season. We’ll have a lot of innings back on the mound. We should have another fun spring,” said Kalal.
