Andrew's Simak edges Lincoln-Way Central, Bass
April 5, 2013
By Sean Duncan
Executive Director
NEW LENOX, IL – Andrew came into the season with high expectations, but after squandering a few late-inning leads, the Thunderbolts entered Thursday’s game against host Lincoln-Way Central with a sub-.500 record.
Senior left-hander Cameron Simak’s gutty complete-game effort in Andrew’s 3-2 Southwest Suburban crossover victory just may be the jolt Andrew needed to get back to its winning ways.
Simak outdueled Lincoln-Way Central ace Brad Bass – the No. 1-ranked junior in Illinois – to even Andrew’s record at 5-5. Simak, who’s committed to Roosevelt College, yielded five hits, one earned run while striking out five behind his 68-72 mph fastball and 58-62 mph curveball.
“Today Cameron Simak did the job,” said Andrew coach Dave DeHaan. “He just gets ahead of hitters and throws strikes.”
Andrew’s hitters came out swinging against the 6-foot-6 Bass (0-1), a Notre Dame recruit who has as much upside as any pitcher in the Midwest. The T-Bolts tallied three hits in the first inning to mount a 1-0 lead. Bass yielded nine hits in his 5.1 innings with six strikeouts and two walks.
Andrew’s top of the order did most of the damage. Michigan State-bound infielder Dan Durkin, who earned PBR first-team All-State honors as a junior, went 2-for-3 with a run-scoring double in the first, scored in the third after a single, and walked in the fifth. Zach Klockowski, a physical 6-foot-4, 235-pound unsigned senior first baseman, went 3-for-4 with a double, and DH Kevin Walsh added two hits and an RBI.
Junior 3B Kevin Mampe led Lincoln-Way Central (3-2) at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double in which he scored on an error in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Knights scored their other run when Simak hit a batter with the bases loaded.
“I’m just really proud of the guys of how they bounced back from a tough loss yesterday,” said DeHaan. “We were up by four in the sixth against Joliet Catholic and lost. We had good at-bats today, especially in the first inning.”
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