By Francisco Avila- Photos by Gary Larson
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p24022292 **
LISLE— After a tough but resilient 10-7 win against 13U Impact Navy in their first game of the day’s doubleheader, the Wolves demonstrated confidence in their hitting and strong defense, achieving a convincing 18-2 blowout win against Wow Factor and now fully focused on their upcoming Fathers Day tournament in Arlington Hts.
“I think a lot of the teams that we play against rely heavily on a certain part of their order and we have the luxury of great hitters throughout the entire order, and that’s one of the reasons we can bat our full lineup, whether it be in league play or tournament play,” said Wolves Head Coach Brandin Muniz.
He additionally spoke to the confidence these two wins bring him and the staff towards the upcoming tournament.
“I’ll say I’m happy with the way we finished this game, because we don’t have a game until this upcoming tournament. So happy and proud of our boys for finishing today strong.”
The Wolves started strong right from the get go.
Payton Swartzendruber started on the mound and made quick work of the Wow Factor batters in their initial at bats.
After Spencer Marnell reached after being hit by pitch and Jackson Marti reached on an error, the Wolves had men at first and second with two outs. Graham Johnson plated both of them when he smashed a double to the centerfield fence for the 2-0 lead after an inning of play.
“I mean for my at bat, I got down early, 1-2, and I kind of just fought back seeing some balls, and then I knew he was going to give me a pitch over the plate, so I just put my bat out there and hit it sooner.” said Johnson
Wow Factor would not stay silent long, they grabbed a pair of runs and tied the game soon after in their second at-bats. .
Despite giving up two runs immediately after scoring thier runs, the Wolves didn’t succumb to early pressure and scored in bunches in the bottom of the second inning.
After a quick two outs, Julien Duque provided an opposite field two-run homer after Griff Sinkovich singled to right field. The Duque homer saw the Wolves regain the lead at 4-2.
“Yeah, I kind of like hitting against lefties, which is a little odd because I am a lefty, and I saw a pitch, it was low and pretty much down the middle, I swung at it, and it was a good line drive. I hit it hard and it traveled far enough to go out, and that’s why I went out.”
A pair of ground ball errors by the visitors continued the inning which turned out to be costly for WOW. With two on, Sackley beat out and infield hit that loaded the base for Marnell, who then added to the score with single that scored Ruffolo.
Up 5-2, those two ground ball errors earlier in the inning now haunted WOW when Martin stepped in and hit a Grand Slam homerun to right-center, upping the score to 9-2 after two innings.
Sinkovich relieved Swartzendruber on the mound and proceeded to walk the first two batters. Sinkovich looked cmfortable on the mound but it had been a while since he pitched. His velocity was high but struggled early to find the zone. He settled in with a strike out and then was aided by a line-drive double play catch by Sackley wh the tossed to Marnell at second to end the top half of the third inning.
The Wolves then had a field day at the bottom of the third inning as they scored nine more runs.
After a ground out, Petrbok singled to right field. Swartzendruber reached on a fielders choice and was followed by Matthew Wiskowski sigle to left field.
With the bases loaded, a Sinkovich grounder was booted at third with Petrbok scoring. Swatrzendruber soon scored on a pass ball. Duque walks to again load the bases.
Ruffolo followed with hit to centerfield that scored both Wiskwski and Johnson who pinched ran for Sinkovich that now had the Wolves up 13-2 with just one out.
“So I was thinking to just take a strike because I haven’t seen this pitcher yet, and I saw the first pitch was high, and then I knew probably he was going to throw another fastball in there, right down the middle. So I just took it and hit it,” said Ruffolo on his hit.
Brady Madden added to the Wolves tally when he singled and drove in Duque with the fourteenth run.
After Sackley was hit by a pitch, a sac fly by Marnell scored Johnson for a 15-2 lead. Martin ended the game when he belted another home run scoring three more runs for the 18-2 Run Rule win after three innings.
Petrbok spoke after the game about how the team is feeling after two strong wins ahead of the upcoming tournament.
“Yeah, it’s going to be nice because we’re going right into a new tournament, and it has some good teams in there. So coming off of these wins today, that’ll bring us some determination, win it all, and we did well today, and we are hyped.”
The Wolves have now won 17 straight as they head into the weekend tournament in Mount Prospect.
