By Patrick Z McGavin- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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WHEELING— With versatility as his calling card, Matthew Wiskowski always aspires toward two-way excellence.
The last thing any player wants to seem is one-sided or limited to just one part of the field.
“I’m an all-around guy, with a good fastball and curve that gets guys out, and I also wanted to help myself up at the plate,” he said.
The starting pitcher for the Illinois Wolves 13U delivered with flying colors.
Wiskowski drove in two runs and struck out six and conceded just one hit in the Wolves’ 14-1 four-inning victory over the Northwest Travelers White 13U at Heritage Park on Thursday, April 17.
The Wolves (13-1, 2-0 in GCBL) put together another dominant performance, following up their 14-4 victory Tuesday night victory over NWT at Community Park.
“I didn’t feel like when we played the last time we hit the ball that well,” infielder Graham Johnson said. “I think tonight everybody wanted to hit through a lot, and bat really well.”
The Wolves had just nine available players, and each one contributed to the victory. All nine players had at least one hit, and seven drove in runs.
Wiskowski made sure the Northwestern Travelers had no offensive answer. He was spectacularly efficient and effective, throwing strikes on 29 of his 39 pitches.
Wiskowski threw three innings, and did not give up a walk. He struck out four of the six batters he faced in retiring the side through two innings.
“My fastball was really good,” he said. “I was hitting the corners, and hitting my spots really well. I haven’t had that many pitching performances, so I wanted to make it count. I just had great placement, and they just couldn’t hit it.”
The bright side to the shortened line up is the Wolves’ big hitters cycled through the order and optimized their plate appearances.
Wiskowski, Johnson and Christian Slazak had multiple hit games.
Slazak went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a team-best four RBI and two runs scored. Johnson went 2-for-3 with two RBI. His towering home run over the center field wall sparked the five-run 2nd inning.
On his final at-bat in the 4th inning, he drove a ball to the warning track in deep left field.
Eight of the Wolves’ 13 hits went for extra bases, with seven doubles.
Slazak, Johnson and Payton Swartzendruber smashed first inning doubles in staking the Wolves to the 3-0 lead.
“Graham told me they were going to throw their best pitchers, but I don’t think it really mattered,” Slazak said. “I bat at the four, and everything I do Graham tries to one up me.”
The Wolves did not rest on their laurels after the hot opening inning. In the 2nd, Jackson Martin and Slazak had back-to-back two-run singles and Johnson followed with his monster shot.
The Wolves have had at least one home run in every game save one this season.
Fred Sackley and Auggie Ruffolo also had one hit apiece. Sackley drove in a run.
“With the smaller team, the focus was for everybody to come out and play very hard,” Johnson said. ”We started hot, and forced them to change their hitter and that always gives you a lot of confidence when that happens. The big thing was we just wanted to finish them off.”
Coach Brandin Muniz was upset that his players seemed to lose focus Tuesday night after a big nine-run second inning. The Wolves tended to coast after that.
“I thought our energy level was super big tonight,” Muniz said. “I made that very clear when the expectations are high and we’re shooting for a goal, we don’t turn that switch off until the game is over. I think some teams take the attitude about taking is easy if the talent is unbalanced. That produces bad habits, and that’s not something we’re ever going to do.”
In the aftermath of Wolves’ first loss Saturday night at a Wisconsin tournament, the team has outscored their four opponents 58-12.
“I was happy after that loss Sunday night that we had another game immediately on Monday because I wanted to come out strong,” Muniz said.
“I didn’t want to deter the kids from what our end goal is, and that is to win as many games as possible. We have a number in mind, and that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Wiskowski aided his own cause by blasting an opposite field run-scoring double in the 4th.
Wiskowski, Brady Madden and Jonny Burke had three consecutive run-scoring doubles during the frame.
With an attack averaging nearly 14 runs a game, pitchers like Wiskowski go into every game knowing the outcome is not likely to be 1-0 or 2-1. Even against top-notch pitching, the Wolves are too skilled and prodigious to stay silent.
“It gives me a lot of confidence that even if they get a hit, it doesn’t really bother me that much,” Wiskowski said. “I know the offense is going to bounce back.”
If every game produces its own challenges, Wiskowski knew not to overtax himself. He pitched his style.
“We just played them two nights ago, and I didn’t want to overthrow or hurt my arm,” Wiskowski said. “I didn’t worry about speed as much. I just wanted to get my placement in. We just had nine guys tonight, but everybody did their part.”
Slazak threw the final inning just to get some pitching reps in.
Fittingly, the Wolves punctuated the victory with a game-ending double play.
Wiskowski was the player of the moment. Muniz said he personifies the team’s unselfish mentality and drive.
“Matty’s one of our top dogs on the mound,” Muniz said. “I can always rely on him. He is very receptive about what we want to do as a team. I can always count on him from both sides, hitting and pitching.”
