By Bobby Narang-Photos by Lauren Gray
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LISLE – The 13U Illinois Wolves experienced a rare lull in the schedule in late May.
Due to some unforeseen incidents, the Wolves had several days off before their two games on May 29.
The break turned out to be the ideal tonic to recharge the Wolves, ignite the offense and wake up the defense after a listless two-game performance in a one-day tournament in Palatine earlier in the month.
After a home run filled 10-run victory in their first game on Thursday, the Wolves managed to spray the ball all over the field – and over the fence – in an impressive 14-3 win over the Hounds in the nightcap.
The Wolves, who defeated The Longshots 12-2 in the first game on Thursday, scored three runs in the first inning, added two more in the second and a four-spot in the third to seize an early lead in the second game. The Wolves smacked four home runs in the victory on their home field.
Illinois Wolves assistant coach Grant Johnson said it was nice to see the players get back on track in all three phases, including newcomer Spencer Marnell.
“It was a good second game and nice for our boys to get out here because we’ve been off for a while,” Grant Johnson said. “We haven’t played in a week but we hit well and played well defensively. Spencer is a solid shortstop and comes in at the two-hole today, which was nice breath of fresh air.
“It was good to play and get out here and play two games today. It was a well-rounded game, which is what you want to see when you’ve been off for a while. Regardless of competition, when you play all three facets of the game very well, you are going to win. We hit a lot of home runs at this field. It’s not a huge field, but you still have a good poke. Most of our balls hit tonight would’ve gone out in other fields.
On a beautiful and warm evening, the Wolves’ bats light up the field. Graham Johnson, who hit a home run in the first half, drilled a walk-off, grand slam home run in the bottom of the fifth.
In the first inning, Johnson powered a two-run, pop-fly home run over the field for a 3-0 lead. Not to be overlooked, Johnson’s play at third base sparked, too. He picked up a hard, line drive in the top of the second inning and calmly threw out a runner at first for a double play. A few pitches later, he scooped us a slow roller and lasered a throw to first to end the inning. Johnson and Fred Sackley both finished with two hits.
The visiting left fielder did not even turn his back toward the fence on Johnson’s moonshot that ended the second game. The Wolves belted nine hits and took advantage of two errors.
“The line drive to me was an easy out, but the next play was a short chopper that I might have rushed the throw,” Johnson said. “On my homer, I had the 2-2 count again, I got my foot down early and sat on the slower pitches and was able to put it out.”
Christian Slazak, who belted a three-run home run in his second at-bat, pitched the first three innings to get the ball rolling in the right direction for the Wolves. Late in the game, Slazak impressed – and scared – several fans when his foul ball smashed the light cover of a foul pole behind the dugout on the first base side. Slazak pitched a scoreless three innings. Michael Petrok pitched one inning.
“The umpire had a big strike zone, so I was fouling everything off,” Slazak said. “I fouled it off and it hit the light pole. I did It one time last year. I was happy with my pitching. As soon as I threw those first two pitches, I knew it was going to be a good day out there. I felt pretty good out there. Our team backed us up with a lot of hits.”
Matthew Wiskowski added to the flurry of home runs in the two games, smacking a solo shot over the left-field fence in the bottom of the second inning. Johnny Burke followed a blast for back-to-back home runs for a 5-0 lead.
