Sports
York Baseball Team Coasts in Summer Playoff Opener
York defeated Lincoln Park 11-1 in Fenwick Regional action of the IHSBCA Phil Lawler Summer Classic state tournament.
After a slow start, York baseball team’s offense quickly found its groove Friday.
The Dukes went scoreless the first two innings and stranded two runners at third base but then broke through for an 11-1, five-inning home victory over Lincoln Park in the opening round of the Fenwick Regional in the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Phil Lawler Summer Classic state tournament.
York (10-17), the No. 13 seed in its regional, visits No. 4 Addison Trail at 5 p.m. Monday in the round of 16. If the Dukes win, they will play at No. 5 Oak Park-River Forest or No. 12 Glenbard West in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
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The Dukes defeated Lincoln Park (3-10) by virtue of the 10-run rule with three runs in the third, five in the fourth and three in the fifth.
No. 3 hitter Pete Doughty had the big blow in the fifth with no outs by smacking a two-run triple after River Pitlock walked and Jake Rzeszutko reached on an error to increase the Dukes’ lead to 10-1.
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Doughty scored the game-ending run when the next hitter, Anthony Santos, reached on an infield error.
“Once we saw (their pitcher) a couple of times and got through the order, the kids kind of figured it out,” York coach Dave Kalal said.
“(Their pitcher) wasn’t overpowering. He was a lefty and it was just one of those things where we just had to get our timing right, we had to stop trying to jerk (pull) everything to left field and we had had to use the opposite field to stay on the ball a little bit.”
Doughty finished the game 3 for 3 with two triples, three runs batted in and three runs scored. Other offensive standouts included leadoff hitter Pitlock (3 for 3, 3 runs, 2 stolen bases), Kyle Burr (2 for 2, double, 2 RBI), Matt DiFrancesca (2-run double, run), Rzeszutko (RBI double, 2 runs), Santos (2 runs, RBI) and Chris Nesbitt (double).
Winning pitcher Greg Costello had four strikeouts and one walk and allowed four hits. Costello retired the first eight hitters he faced and surrendered three hits when the Lions scored their lone run in the fourth.
In the Dukes’ fourth, Pitlock singled and scored on Rzeszutko’s double. Doughty and Santos were both hit by pitches to load the bases, DiFrancesca delivered a two-run double and Burr singled home Santos.
Pitlock opened the third with a single and scored on a triple by Doughty, who then scored on an error. Santos singled, advanced to second on an infield out and stole third and scored on Burr’s two-out double.
