On their bus trip to Wednesday’s 13-2 six-inning romp over Fremd, the Schaumburg Saxons heard a pretty decisive pregame talk from coach Paul Groot.
“I told them that they’d taken too many first-pitch strikes last night at Lockport,” said Groot. “I told them we had to be more aggressive at bat.”
Then the Saxons went to bat against Kevin Whitney, a pitcher who consistently threw strikes. And they feasted.
Schaumburg swung at eight of Whitney’s first nine pitches, four resulting in singles.
And the rout was on. The fifth-ranked Saxons (9-2) scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Bill Jauss.
Providence 10, St. Francis de Sales 0: Chris Honel gave up two hits and struck out 14, and Pat Flynn had three hits and drove in four runs to lead No. 2 Providence (10-1, 2-0) in the Catholic League South.
Andrew 9, Rich South 1: Marc Dulkowski tossed a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts and also added three hits and an RBI for No. 3 Andrew (11-2).
Sandburg 14, Oak Lawn 1: Tom Syc pitched a one-hitter with nine strikeouts and also belted a grand slam, scored three runs and had eight RBIs to lead No. 4 Sandburg (11-4).
Hinsdale Central 5, Hinsdale South 1: Kevin Madorin had two hits and an RBI for No. 5 Hinsdale Central (14-1).
Oak Park 8, Willowbrook 1: Ryan Kalita gave up one hit and struck out 10 as No. 7 Oak Park (9-3) rolled.
Kankakee 6, Joliet 5: Winning pitcher Ron Jones had a two-run double to drive home the winning runs as Kankakee (9-6) edged No. 8 Joliet.
Homewood-Flossmoor 3, Lincoln-Way 2: J.P. Carey had three hits and drove in two runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh, to lead No. 10 Homewood-Flossmoor (11-1).
De La Salle 10, Fenwick 0: Mike Brown had four hits, including his third home run, and Pat Flynn struck out eight in five innings to lead De La Salle (13-4, 2-0) in the Catholic League.
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Downers Grove North 9, Morton 2: Larry Rostis had two hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs for Downers North (8-3).
Gordon Tech 6, Leo 3: Sergio Simentel gave up four hits and struck out 14 to lead Gordon Tech.
Illiana Christian 6, Wheaton Academy 1: Mike Nadelberg gave up six hits, struck out 10 and added a two-run double to lead Illiana Christian (7-2).
Kenwood 16, Englewood 1: Robert Branch allowed just one hit and struck out six for Kenwood (5-4, 2-0) in the Public League South Central.
Larkin 13, East Aurora 1: Doug Hill tossed a one-hitter and Jason Hodge added three hits, including a three-run home run and five RBIs for Larkin (7-2, 3-0) in the Upstate Eight.
Leyden 9, York 4: Jon Kornecki had a three-run triple to lead the Leyden (8-4) attack.
Loyola 10, St. Rita 3: Corey Parr had a triple and four RBIs to lead Loyola (7-8, 1-0) in the Catholic League.
Montini 10, Immaculate Conception 0: Joe Strening drove in three runs and Andy Kowalewski added two RBIs to lead Montini (11-2, 4-1) in the Suburban Catholic.
Oak Forest 3, Tinley Park 0: Mike Lynch tossed a no-hitter as Oak Forest (8-6, 1-0) prevailed in the SICA Central.
Quigley 16, Holy Trinity 6: Alex Cuellar had three hits, drove in three runs and scored three for Quigley (3-3, 2-0) in the Chicago Prep.
St. Benedict 15, St. Gregory 2: Omar Farrington had four hits and three RBIs, and Lee Musgraves hit a grand slam for St. Benedict (8-3, 2-0) in the Chicago Prep.
St. Edward 5, Driscoll 0: Jackie Brittain tossed a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts and also added two hits and scored a pair of runs for St. Edward (7-3, 2-0) in the Suburban Catholic.
St. Ignatius 10, Mt. Carmel 7: Mike Krga had two hits and drove in three runs, and Mike Basil added three hits and two RBIs to lead St. Ignatius in the Catholic League (13-3, 2-0).
St. Laurence 13, Weber 2: Brian Nelson tripled and had two RBIs to lead St. Laurence (11-4, 2-0) in the Catholic League.
University High 13, Chicago Vocational 3: Sim Khalidi had two hits, scored two runs and drove in a pair for U-High (5-6).
Von Steuben 6, Sullivan 1: Eric Velazquez struck out 10 and gave up two hits, and Tim Leong drove in three runs to lead Von Steuben (4-10).
Walther Lutheran 20, Luther South 4: Chris Iosco, Robert Morris and Detrich Williams homered in the third inning to lead the Walther Lutheran rout.