No 1. St. Charles North Tops No. 11 Lockport in Slugfest
April 24, 2021
Two of the best offensive teams in the state squared off on Friday afternoon with No. 1 St. Charles North and No. 11 Lockport. This Power 25 matchup was looking to be a good game from the start, as both teams took no time to get on the board. No. 1 St. Charles North would end up on top 11-9 after a late comeback attempt by No. 11 Lockport fell just short.
No. 11 Lockport found themselves down 11-6 going into the last inning. Junior Dawson Bochenek, an Olney Central JC commit and Michael Hughes, a Wisconsin-Oshkosh commit, singled with one out to start a rally for the Porters. Senior Ryan Moerman, an Illinois commit, would later walk with two outs to load the bases for junior Victor Izquierdo. Izquierdo, a Navy commit, delivered with a loud double to the left-center gap which cleared the bases and brought the Porters within 2. The comeback attempt could come up short however as the next batter for Lockport would strike out looking.
No. 1 St. Charles North (7-0) got things going in the bottom of the second inning with junior Ryan Caccia drawing a walk to lead off the inning. Senior Nick DeMarco, a Notre Dame commit, got hit by a pitch, which was then followed by a sharply hit single by Junior Jayden Lobliner, a Kansas State commit, to plate Caccia making the score 4-2. Senior Andrew Jimenez, a UW-Milwaukee commit, would go on to rope a double to right field to score DeMarco, extending the North Stars lead to 5-2 lead at the time. The final tally of the frame came when senior Ethan Kobylinski lined a single to centerfield, scoring Marco Torres, a Wisconsin-Whitewater commit, making the score 8-2 heading to the top of the third inning.
The North Stars took no time to score in the first inning as leadoff hitter and senior Alex Najera, a UW-Whitewater commit, started the inning with a single up the middle. DeMarco would walk the following at bat and put two men on. Jimenez followed with a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. After a wild pitch scored Najera, Torres scored DeMarco with a fielders choice which gave the North Stars their first lead of the day. Junior Aidan O’Connell then proceeded to smoke a line-drive to left field which resulted in an error by the left-fielder allowing O’Connell to reach base and Jimenez to come around and score, making it 3-1 at the time.
DeMarco, the No. 4 ranked prospect in the Illinois’ 2021 class, would add two more runs in the fifth inning for the North Stars with a no-doubt, two-run home run to left-field making the score 10-4 at the time. Later in the frame a fielder's choice scored junior pinch runner Nathan Suksengdow to make it 11-4 after five innings.
Lockport would cut into the lead (8-2 at the time) in the fifth inning. Senior Connor Christian lined a single to right field which scored Moerman to make it 8-3. A bases loaded hit-by-pitch scored Izquierdo to make the score 8-4.
In the sixth, the Porters continued to chip away. Senior Matt Santarelli, a Western Illinois commit who also homed in the first at-bat of the game, lined a one-out single to right-field, putting runners on first and second for Izquierdo. Following a passed ball, Izquierdo made the score 11-5 with a fielders choice that scored Hughes from third base. Sophomore Anthony Martinez then singled to centerfield to bring home Santarelli cutting the lead to 11-6 heading to the bottom of the sixth.
Junior RHP Lucas Pajeau entered the game in the bottom of the third inning for the Porters and proceeded to shut down the No. 1 team in the state. Pajeau worked two shutout innings in relief, allowing one hit while striking out 5. His fastball sat 83-86 mph with jump through the zone. He also featured a sharp curveball with 11-5 shape at 63-67 mph. He showed one changeup at 79 mph with sink in the bottom of the zone.
The North Stars remain perfect and move to 7-0 on the young season after the win on Friday evening.
Notable Performances:
Victor Izquierdo (Lockport): (2-4, 4 RBIs)
Matt Santarelli (Lockport): (2-4, HR, RBI)
Nick DeMarco (St. Charles North): (1-1, HR, 2 RBIs)
Anthony Martinez (Lockport): (2-3, RBI)
Marco Torres (St. Charles North): (1-4, 2 RBIs)
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