By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
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Lisle─ Christian Slazak made a point not to forget his first game after his 13th birthday.
Two days after turning 13, Slazak belted two home runs to power the Illinois Wolves to a 16-9 victory over Briarcliffe Blazers Black on Tuesday night in Lisle.
On a night with a forecast for storms, Slazak provided the thunder with two moon-shot home runs over the centerfield fence. He nearly hit a third home run in his final at-bat, smacking a high drive that landed on the base of the left-field fence.
Besides Slazak’s three blasts, the contest featured little beauty due to an overflow of walks, errors and hit by pitches on both sides.
But thanks to Slazak’s 3-for-3 showing at the plate which included eight RBIs, the Illinois Wolves held on despite a late surge by the visitors to pull out an important early week victory.
On his first home run, Slazak drilled his home run between the two flag poles – just to the left of the scoreboard for a 3-1 lead in the first inning. Two innings later, Slazak hit a line-drive screamer just inches over the centerfield fence for a three-run shot for a 10-1 lead. On the pitch before, Slazak picked up an RBI on a wild pitch, just missing a shot for a grand slam.
“It was first pitch right in the middle and I just took it,” Slazak said of his first home run. “My second one I knew it was a full count and I knew he didn’t want to walk me, so he gave me a good pitch to hit. I almost had a third one, but just came up short. I felt good at the plate. I just got under the last one I hit, so this feels good. This was my first game since my birthday, so this felt good. I’m happy we won the game.”
His strong day at the plate also included a strong effort on the mound. Slazak, a strong right-hander, pitched the first three innings, scattering three hits, walking three and striking out three.
Illinois Wolves coach Brandin Muniz said Slazak is a special two-way talent for his program.
“A big part of Christian’s game is (hitting), so he’s been coming up huge lately for us,” Muniz said. “When one of our top guys gets hot, our offense works really well.”
Centerfielder Johnny Burke also came up clutch at the plate with two hits and a walk, scoring two runs for the Illinois Wolves. Burke had an even better day in the outfield, saving several runs with three outstanding catches, including a highlight-reel play in the seventh inning.ch
Burke was one of the stars of the game with his speed and catching ability, saving the Wolves from avoiding a potential loss with his steadiness.
Burke saved two runs with a sprinting catch to his right in the second inning to end a threat by the visitors.
“My favorite plays are the diving catches, but I also like the ones where I have to move a lot, like the one I got in the second inning,” Burke said. “I didn’t play in the outfield last year, so this was probably my best game of the season in the outfield or even in my career. That (second inning) catch felt great and was very satisfying. It was an ugly game. My feet hurt.”
Muniz said Burke’s fielding was a key aspect of the victory.
“He covers so much ground out there,” Muniz said. “I love that he doesn’t let one side of baseball affect the other side. He’s been dominant for us defensively all year. He takes charge of the outfield.”
Griff Sinkovich came on in relief in the final three innings to close the door on a potential comeback for the visiting team. He allowed three hits, gave up two runs and fanned five in a stellar effort to close out the game. Sinkovich, who walked once, ended the nearly three-hour marathon with three straight outs in the top of the seventh inning.
Sinkovich said he was motivated for a strong effort on the mound, especially after hearing the Chicago White Sox squander a five-run lead in the fourth inning and drop a 7-6 decision to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
“I just went in and I was a bit mad because the White Sox just lost to the Cubs, so I was pretty mad,” he said. “I was pretty angry at the plate after hitting that groundball up the middle that the pitcher stopped that would’ve walked it off. I went out there with an attitude, stayed locked in and even if something bad happened, I just moved on from it.
The right-hander showed tremendous poise and toughness late in the game, getting stronger in his final two innings to secure the victory.
“That last inning, I was feeling pretty good. I was happy with myself and that first strikeout got me fired up, then Johnny made that great play at center,” Sinkovich said. “I was preparing to pitch out of the stretch. I like pitching out of the windup. This win feels good to be back winning and play Wolves’ baseball.”
On a night when nearly every pitcher struggled finding the strike zone, partly due to a wet baseball, Muniz said Sinkovich was solid in his three innings.
“He almost has that nervousness, but once he gets out of that nervousness, he’s dominant,” he said. “The goal is to get him in that comfort level from the get-go. He came in and shut them down pretty good. Graham Johnson had a good game, got hit twice today and had a big base hit and overall our whole team came through in one way or another. Whether offensively or defensively, they all stepped up for us to get this win.”
Muniz said his team showed great fortitude battling in the long game. The Wolves scored three runs in the first, seven in the second and four in the fourth but couldn’t put the pesky visitors away for a shortened game, Muniz said.
Michael Petrbok added two hits, two runs and an RBI in the 14-hit attack.
“We just couldn’t put them away, scored a ton of runs early and I think our bats just fell asleep a bit,” Muniz said. “I’m proud of the boys. They hung in there. We just couldn’t get that last run to end the game early, so we wound up playing the whole game.”
