The pitchers frustrated while the bats gyrated on Saturday as the OPRF baseball team buried Proviso West 11-0 and 13-0 in doubleheader action to push its winning streak to 11.
In the opener, Neil Mejia tossed a one-hit shutout in six innings, fanning a whopping 12 batters, while allowing just one walk. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Zach Vanderlaan threw a perfect five-inning game in the nightcap. Vanderlaan struck out seven of the 15 batters he faced.
It was the second no-hitter for OPRF in the week. On May 7, Kyle Glancy tossed a no-no with seven strikeouts in a 6-0 victory over Addison Trail.
In-between the impressive pitching performances on Saturday, the Huskies (19-9, 9-5) took batting practice. OPRF jumped on a 5-0 lead after four innings in Game 1, and dug a trench from third to home with 10 runs in the first three innings of Game 2. Three players drove in a total of nine runs for the Huskies in the nightcap. Dan Jarvis (3-for-3), Glancy (3-for-3) and Scott Adams (3-for-4) each drove in three runs apiece.
OPRF’s pitching has been hot of late. Drew Golz pushed his record to 4-0 on May 1 when the Huskies completed a three-game sweep of Downers Grove South with a 9-4 victory.
“It’s a real good time in the season to be hitting and pitching well,” said OPRF head coach Chris Ledbetter. “Having three days of practice in one week for the first time all season is good too. We can key-in on the little things and stay focused as the playoffs approach.”
OPRF, who was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Fenwick Sectional last week, hosts its final conference series on Saturday with a doubleheader against Hinsdale Central (11 a.m.). The Huskies will take on either Orr or North Grand on May 23rd to open their own regional.
