No. 15 Downers Grove South Takes Down Crosstown Rival Downers Grove North
May 11, 2021
No. 15 Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North squared off on Tuesday afternoon. Strong pitching and offense led the Mustangs to a 9-0 victory, moving them to 15-1 on the season.
Downers Grove South scored at least one run in each of the first five innings and pounded out 10 hits in the win.
The Mustangs scored 3 runs in the first inning and never looked back. A double from senior Joe Cosenza, a College of DuPage commit, would plate the first run of the game. Senior AJ Taylor would come up later in the inning and rope a double of his own; this one off the left-field wall to plate two more runs and make it 3-0 at the time. They would go on to put up two more runs in the second and two in the fourth to break the game wide open. Cosenza, Taylor, Richie Pecenka and John Szalko each had a double to lead the way for Downers Grove South.
The Mustangs were led on the mound by junior right-hander Ethan Patera, a Louisville commit and one of the top arms in the class. Patera tossed five shutout innings while only allowing one hit, three walks and racking up 11 strikeouts. Patera dominated with a lively fastball which sat anywhere from 90-94 throughout; 93-94 mph, touching 96 mph in the first inning. His slider was not needed much but when it was, it was his go-to secondary offering this game. The slider is thrown with conviction, showing sharp 10/4 action at 78-82 mph, landing it both for strikes and to put hitters away. Also featured a changeup thrown at 85-87 mph with the same arm-action as his fastball and kept down in the zone. Patera continues to solidify himself as one of the top arms in the class and should be a high-interest draft arm come this time next year if he continues his upward trend.
David Marshall and Lucas Nielsen collected the two hits for Downers Grove North.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
+ Ethan Patera (Downers Grove South): 5 IP, H, 0 R, 11 K, 3 BB
+ Cole Warehime (Downers Grove South): 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB, R
+ Joe Cosenza (Downers Grove South): 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
+ Maxx Palenik (Downers Grove South): 2-for-4, R
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