By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
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CREST HILL – Standing with a dejected look at the third-base line, Illinois Wolves 13U coach Brandin Muniz shook his head in frustration.
After watching his team slumber their way through a loss in the first game on Saturday, Muniz was getting ready to coach the basepaths in the top of the third inning of the second game against Premier Navy.
The Wolves failed to score a run in the first two innings to fall into a 4-0 deficit. Everyone on the Wolves’ side of the fence was voicing their displeasure over the lack of energy in the first game and the first two innings.
But then, suddenly the Wolves finally heard their wake-up call via Johnny Burke’s single to leftfield in the top of the third inning. The Wolves proceeded to score five runs in the inning to pull out an 11-8 victory over Premier Navy in five innings to split their two games on Saturday morning.
“We did a lot better job in the second game, but we’re still not putting teams away,” Muniz said. “It takes one spark, a group of kids and it’s contagious. Christian Slazak did a pretty good job. He came through pitching and hitting. He did stuff that he hasn’t been put in a situation like that before and really came through. He did a great job. It was a good win”
The Wolves finished with 10 hits in the game, led by Christian Slazak and Jackson Martin both driving in three runs. Brady Madden started the game on the mound, while Martin, Matthew Wiskowski and Slazak also took the mound in relief. Slazak closed out the game with solid job in the bottom of the fifth.
“I was put in a same situation when we lost to the Slammers and I didn’t want to do it again, so I tried to pitch my best in the second game so we wouldn’t lose,” Slazak said. “I got the three outs for us. It felt good.”
The Wolves’ five-run explosion was the difference in the game. After Burke’s single, Auggie Ruffolo got on base via an error that plated a run.
Burke said he was happy to start the game-turning rally.
“I knew I had to do better and hit the baseball,” Burke said. “It was nice to win and to play well. We’re coming together as a team. We clearly didn’t in the first game, but we did in the second game. That team we played in the second game is good.”
One out later, Michael Petrbok cut the gap to 4-2 by getting on base following another error by the home team. Jackson Martin kept the rally going with a single to right field. Christian Slazak had the big hit of the game, belting a two-RBI double that hit the base of the centerfield wall to tie the game up.
Slazak said he sat on the pitch for his key hit
“The first pitch he threw a fastball and it was outside,” Slazak said. “There were runners on base. He hung a curve and I just swung hard and it was a nice hit to the fence.”
Graham Johnson smashed an RBI groundout to give the Wolves a 5-4 lead to end the scoring.
The Wolves came right back with another five-run effort in the top of the fourth inning, generating three hits and taking advantage of another error. Auggie Ruffolo had the key hit with a run-scoring single for a 6-4 lead that ignited the offense. Martin powered a shot to the left-field fence that scored three runs and Slazak drilled an RBI single to leftfield.
Fred Sackley said the second game on Saturday was a better effort by the team.
“The second game we cleaned it up a little bit,” Sackley said. “We played better. It was good to score five runs in the inning after losing our first game and going down in the second game. It was good to come back and get a win.”
The Wolves scored another run in the top of the fifth on a groundout by Madden to give a cushion.
“We have to improve more, but the second game we did a few things right and had good hitting,” Muniz said.
