OPRF 4 11
York 3 10
The OPRF baseball team pulled out a doubleheader sweep of York on Saturday to up its West Suburban (Silver) Conference record to 7-1 on the season.
The Huskies faced York ace and highly-touted collegiate recruit Steve Atkins in the opener. OPRF’s stingy bats came out on top with a 4-3 victory. Sam Picchiotti got the Huskies on the board with a double in the first inning that drove in Mike Locasto, who had reached with a walk. Andrew Godbold, who had also reached base with a walk, scored in the second on an error. OPRF (13-7) closed the door in the third when Jo Jo Maldonado doubled in a run and both Godbold and Jack Rogalla garnered RBIs with singles.
“Grabbing the first-game win was huge because we were facing their best pitcher,” said OPRF head coach Chris Ledbetter. “The guys didn’t get rattled, and they stayed selective at the plate.”
Luke McLeese earned the victory by allowing three runs on five hits. He finished with seven strikeouts.
OPRF’s explosiveness at the plate continued in Game 2 as the Huskies took a commanding 10-2 lead by the fourth inning, but ended up edging their conference opponent 11-10. Godbold drove in five runs in the game, three of which coming on a home run. Picchiotti went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and three RBIs.
But OPRF’s pitchers yielded seven walks in the final two innings to leave the door open for York. Maldonado’s homer in the seventh gave the Huskies an 11-9 lead.
A superb play by Ryan Mullin at first base saved the victory for the Huskies. OPRF was attempting a double-play with bases loaded but the throw to first was off the mark and in the dirt. Mullen’s diving, short-hop grab held the tying run on third.
“Without Ryan’s effort on that play, we probably don’t win the game,” said Ledbetter. “The bottom line is, in baseball if you blow an opportunity to win a game on a double play something usually bad happens.”
Sophomore Will Polley ended up the winning pitcher for OPRF. Polley yield six runs – four earned – off six hits in 4 1/3 innings.
OPRF travels to Peoria this weekend for a round-robin tournament. The Huskies take on Barton-Limestone on Friday night and Illinois Valley Central on Saturday.