By Ed Muniz- Photos by Lauren Gray
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Lisle— First game jitters are the norm no matter what level of sports you participate in. From Professional to youth sports, athletes find themselves feeling some pressure to perform and be successful to begin a new season.
To a man, they confess when asked if that nervousness was a gorilla on their back at the beginning. For some, they quickly settle in and jettison that imaginary weight.
For Jackson Martin, that scenario played out both at the plate and on the mound.
“I was a little nervous starting the game but after that first hit, I kinda settled in,” said Martin.
It took just three pitches from his Strikes opponent from Brookfield-LaGrange Park for Martin to launch a Homerun shot beyond the centerfield fence with a man on, giving his Illinois Wolves (1-0) a 2-run lead, which stood up as the game winning hit in their 10-0 shutout victory to open the 2025 season on March 18 in Lisle.
Although the Wolves coasted by the Strikes team, for Coach Brandin Muniz, there was a lot of room for improvement.
“I thought we took a lot of good pitches in our at-bats,” said Muniz. “I saw several players taking too many strikes on pitches they should be swinging at. I told some of the boys that it’s hard to evaluate them if they aren’t swinging at good pitches, I need to do that to get an idea what are our strengths are up at bat.”
The Wolves did cross the plate often, but one key in the victory was the number of walks issued by the Strikes pitchers. In six-innings, the Wolves were issued 11 walks while collecting just 5 hits, 3 of which were Home Runs.
The Earl Weaver way of winning games worked to the Wolves’ advantage with two of their three homers scoring multiple runs.
A first inning blast by Martin drove in two, a third inning opposite-field homer by Michael Petrbok also drove in a pair and a solo shot by Graham Johnson started his quest to hit 25 home runs this year.
A standout for the Wolves was their pitching. Using seven different pitchers, it became quite evident that this team has depth on the mound.
As a staff, the Wolves faced 24 batters. They struck out 17, gave up just one hit and walked just two
The Wolves pitchers struck out the side in four of the seven innings. Starter’ Brady Madden, Michael Petrbok, Jackson Martin and Christian Slazak all accomplished that feat.
After Madden made short work of the Strikes batters, using control and staying around the plate to open the game, striking out three, the Wolves took their swings and scored twice on Martin’s homer, scoring Petrbok for the 2-0 advantage after one.
Graham Johnson took to the mound and faced just three batters, striking out two. He took advantage of his chance on the mound and made it look effortless.
The Wolves threatened in the next at-bats but left newcomers’ Fred Sackley and Madden stranded at third and second respectively after reaching on walks.
The Third inning saw an impressive performance by Matthew Wiskowski. Wiskowski was poised on the mound and picked his spots showing an effective fast ball and control, striking out two.
“I felt really good on the mound,” said Wiskowski. “I was confident and felt I could do it well, no, I know I can do it and did. I need to be more confident up at bat. I was good there too, comfortable but maybe just be more confident like I am on the mound.”
After Julien Duque started the Wolves third inning with a walk, a couple batters later, Michael Petrbok showed some power. The lefty went opposite field clearing the left field fence for the two-run home run and a 4-0 Wolves advantage after three.
After his poke over left field, Petrbok took to the mound in inning four and proceed to strike out three of the four batters he faced.
“I need to be a little more consistent on the mound,” Petrbok said. “I walked a guy; I just need to be better. Up at bat, I was comfortable all game. I get that way after I get a hit or reach base. I just need to work on elevating the ball more when I’m hitting.”
The Wolves upped their lead in their next at-bat, scoring three runs which saw Johnson lead off the inning with a solo shot. Two other runs scored thanks to walks and an error at shortstop. Both Matthew Wiskowski and Fred Sackley scored runs.
Now with a comfortable 7-0 lead heading to the top of the fifth, the Wolves went to Payton Swartzendruber.
Adding some muscle and height to his frame, Payton worked a 1-2-3 inning and kept the dominating pitching from the Wolves accelerating, keeping the Strikes scoreless midway through the fifth inning.
The Wolves looked to add more runs as they loaded the bases. A walk to Petrbok and a single by Martin, then two batters later, a hit by pitch to Johnson saw the bags full with two outs, but a flyball to center ended the threat.
The next to take the mound and display his pitching prowess was Jackson Martin.
The “Real Deal” didn’t disappoint. Displaying a fastball that zipped past batters that swung or simply intimidating those that watched white blurs zipping past them, the outcome was the same. Martin faced three batters and struck all three out, one swinging and the other two looking.
“I think of myself as more of a finesse pitcher, I can throw hard, but I don’t think I’m a power pitcher,” said Martin. “I like to keep the ball down and stay composed and collected when I’m pitching.”
In their last at-bat, the Wolves went on to score three more times benefiting from three walks and a throwing error along with a Griff Sinkovich single to left center. Sackley, Sinkovich and Duque all crossed the plate to up the lead to 10-0.
Giving the Strikes an additional at-bat allowed Wolves veteran Christian Slazak some mound time and like all the other Wolves’ Pitcher, he was also dominating, striking out the side, twice looking and one on a swing. Also contributing in the win was Augie Ruffolo. Active in the outfield he added to the Wolves defense while leadeoff hitter’ Johnny Burke scored a run in his recovery state.
‘I thought we had pretty good command of our pitches,” said Coach Muniz. “All of them stepped on the mound and showed lively arms. They also came after the other team and that’s what I want from our pitcher.”
This year’s version of the Illinois Wolves could be vying for a bevy of Championships if the pitching holds up. The Wolves next face a doubleheader of games this Saturday in Lisle taking on the Rage Black from Hoffman Estates at noon followed by the Hounds out of Willowbrook at 2 pm.
