By Patrick Z McGavin- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
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LINCOLNSHIRE— Nothing thrills like the deep ball or hard shot, but sometimes the details matter, and the incremental is more telling.
The Illinois Wolves 13U program has been lighting up the scoreboard with prodigious home runs and impressive displays of power.
Sometimes the team has a different approach.
“We’ve been finding ways to get on,” infielder Fred Sackley said. “Our hitting has been a little bit lower than what it was earlier in the season.
“We’re getting stolen bases and moving people over and playing small ball. We’re going up there looking for our pitches and just trying to put the ball in play and move runners over.”
The Illinois Wolves scored their first four runs without hitting the ball out of the infield in a 16-1 victory over the LSA Lightning Red 13U in GCBL play on Wednesday, April 30.
Three different pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts and scattered just five hits in the dominant collective performance.
Starter Brady Madden struck out three and allowed just three hits and a walk in securing the victory.
Matthew Wiskowski was dominant in middle relief, striking out six in three innings.
Christan Slazak punctuated the elite throwing performance, striking out the side to close out the game.
Sackley went 3-for-3, blasting a two-run double and a run-scoring double and single.
The big bats did not really begin to hammer the Lightning Red until late in the second inning. The early story was a death by a thousand cuts.
The Wolves stole 10 bases, with Sackley, Wiskowski, outfielder Griff Sinkovich and infielder Graham Johnson recording two thefts apiece.
“We have great base runners,” Wiskowski said. “Freddy, I think, stole three bases the first time up. That’s great for a team, getting us on the board easily and early.”
The leadoff batter, Sackley walked, stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch for the first inning lead. The Wolves pushed five runs across during an incident-packed second inning.
Wiskowski and outfielder Auggie Ruffolo had infield hits. Catcher Julien Duque had the first of his two RBI on a groundout. Ruffolo knocked in a run on a slow roller to shortstop, and a second run scored on a fielding error.
That was the prelude to the arrival of the big bats.
In his second at bat, Sackley showed off his power with an RBI double to right center. Shortstop Payton Swartzendruber followed with a shot off the left field fence for his own RBI double.
“At the start, our baserunning had a lot to do with the runs,” coach Brandin Muniz said. “I think if we can push our guys into scoring position, those types of hits end up scoring those guys.”
The Wolves’ hitters took note of the Lightning Red pitchers, and made the necessary adjustments.
“It usually takes one time around the order before our bats start to wake up,” Muniz said. “The kids feed off of that momentum. Once we have that first spark, it’s contagious for the rest of the team.”
The Wolves scored runs in five of the six innings.
Sackley laced a two-run triple down the right side in the fourth inning.
Comfort yields to rhythm and a sweet and natural hitting style. The Wolves passed it on.
”We did a good job of finding gaps, and hitting the ball really hard and working our best out there,” Sackley said.
The Wolves showed off their versatility and depth, again reaching double-digits despite an uncharacteristically quiet night at the plate by Slazak.
Swartzendruber went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. His two-run single sparked the six-run sixth inning that turned the game into a rout.
Sinkovich, Duque and Ruffolo also drove in two runs apiece. Designated player Jonny Burke also drove in a run.
The Wolves pounded out 15 hits, marked by the five doubles and a triple.
That run support is a force multiplier for the pitching staff.
“It just gives our pitchers and the team a lot more confidence knowing that we’re always going to score a lot of runs,” Madden said. “It doesn’t matter where the ball goes. If you get on base, it’s good, and we almost always get around and score.”
If the hitting grabs the headlines, the pitching is the vital cog, evidenced by the nearly 70 percent strikeout rate.
“I was putting the ball in the middle, and they couldn’t really hit,” Madden said. “I was able to catch them off with some off-speed and then the fastball, and stuff like that.”
Wiskowski was virtually untouchable. In the fourth inning, he threw 10 pitches, and nine of them were strikes as the Lightning Red blasted away at air.
“I got into a nice groove,” he said. “After the first inning, we got through the front of their order, and I just knew I could blow it by them. I knew they didn’t have a chance.”
Duque was not just solid and effective at the plate. He was brilliant behind it, managing each pitcher with cool authority.
”I feel like it’s very important to have a good relationship with your pitchers,” he said. “During warm ups or in the bullpen, you want to be able to have fun with them. If they’re struggling, or they’re in their head and they just can’t get a strike over, I’ll talk with them and let them know they’re fine and to calm down.”
The game had reverse momentum.
As the Wolves widened their lead, the Lightning Red offered little resistance, with just two base runners over the final four innings.
“When our run count went up, we definitely got more confidence, pitching-wise,” Duque said. “The more runs we score, the better we’re going to play.”
The Wolves reeled off 10 wins in a row after their first loss. After beating the Lightning Red 7-5 Tuesday night, the new winning streak is up to three games.
Even with the gaudy .917 winning percentage, the Wolves have stayed dialed in.
“We all love playing baseball, and we know what it feels like to lose,” Sackley said.
Confidence, momentum and winning are all deeply interconnected.
”It’s all about the momentum,” Muniz said. “Once that first snowball of runs happens, we usually have good innings after that.”
