No. 19 Plainfield North bounces back, downs No. 12 Minooka

May 21, 2014

By Drake Skleba
Senior Writer

MINOOKA – A day after suffering a heart-breaking loss, No. 19 Plainfield North bounced back in a big way, blasting No. 12 Minooka, 7-3, on Wednesday.

The resilient Tigers (25-6, 17-3) managed to overcome Tuesday’s tough defeat in which Minooka (23-6, 17-3) scored four runs in the top of the seventh to pull out a 6-5 victory. Now the two perennial powers will meet for a winner-take-all Southwest Prairie Conference championship game in Plainfield on Thursday at 4:15 p.m.

Plainfield North’s junior ace lefty Kyle Strepek (9-0) was magnificent on the mound for the Tigers, throwing a five-hitter at the Indians. The three Minooka runs scored in the bottom of the seventh were all unearned. Strepek struck out five and walked only one. At the plate the talented junior helped himself going 4-for-5 with an RBI.

“This was really one of my better performances of the year today,” said Strepek. “I love the warm weather and my fastball and curveball were really working for me. I always hit better when I pitch. It’s amazing. I want to do anything I can to help myself on the mound.”

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by an RBI single by senior Jack Butler. The second Tiger run was scored on a fielder’s choice. Clutch two-out RBI singles were produced by sophomore Jake Dunham in the third and by Strepek in the fourth to extend the Tiger lead to 4-0.

In the sixth, sophomore Zach Jarosz and senior Matt Welch joined the clutch two-out RBI single club, to extend the Tiger lead to 6-0. Dunham had a one-out RBI single in the sixth to conclude the Tiger scoring.

“After yesterday’s loss we really were focused on winning today’s game,” said Dunham. “Every pitch was on for Kyle today. Whatever he was doing today he has to keep doing it for us. I’m truly honored to be playing on varsity for us a sophomore. I’ve worked really hard to improve my game and I was on the ball, seeing it very well today and had a good game at the plate.”

Strepek was working on a three-hit shutout when Minooka senior Ty Polcyn and sophomore Joe Butler singled, to lead off the bottom of seventh. A Tiger defensive miscue led to three unearned runs before Strepek extinguished the final Indian threat to complete his masterpiece.

“Outstanding performance for Kyle today,” said Plainfield North head coach John Darlington. “He had outstanding velocity and mixed in his change-up very well. As long as Kyle is around the plate he is very effective for us. He’s a lefty and lefties are hard to hit if they are around the plate. I would take a whole team of them. The four two-out RBI singles were huge. Clutch two-out hitting wins ballgames. Conference is important and we certainly want to win it, but afterward we move to the postseason.”

No. 19 Plainfield North bounces back, downs No. 12 Minooka

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