By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p718547906 **
PALATINE – One by one, the 13U Illinois Wolves rushed off the baseball field late Saturday morning.
The Wolves had just closed out a productive two-game showing in a tournament played in Palatine, winning both games without much of a sweat.
But the Wolves weren’t rewarded – at least right away – with any postgame snacks or sugar-filled drinks. Instead of desserts, the Wolves had to runs poles. Illinois Wolves coach Brandin Muniz told his players to run five poles – from the right-field line to the left-field line – because of making five mental or physical errors in the second game.
But what mattered most is the Wolves learned several lessons in both games on Saturday.
The Wolves have to play to their potential, not the level of competition. The Wolves played lackluster baseball in the second game, missing key signs and making a few costly mistakes.
The Wolves struggled all game against two unorthodox pitchers but scored a single in the fourth and four in the fifth in a 5-0 win over the Palatine Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs’ starter had a unique windup and quirky style that caused fits for the Wolves. The Bulldogs’ starter had a high leg kick, then would pause for a split second at the top before delivering and eephus pitch. Instead of sitting back and waiting, the Wolves often were impatient and drilled ball after ball into the outfield for easy flyouts.
“The second game we just couldn’t make the adjustment to their pitcher,” Illinois Wolves coach Brandin Muniz said. “We were trying to elevate that ball and you can’t do that in this wind. We tried bunting and couldn’t lay bunts down. It was just missed opportunities and we had guys swinging.”
The Wolves were unable to piece together hits in the first three innings. Jackson Martin had a two-out single in the first inning but was stranded at second base after his steal.
The Wolves went down in order in the second inning but couldn’t score a run in the third even though they loaded the bases, when leadoff hitter Fred Sackley flied out to end the threat.
With the game scoreless, Illinois Wolves third baseman Graham Johnson, who is still nursing a lower leg injury suffered on Mother’s Day, made one of the defensives plays of the game.
His web gem was a big-time play considering the Palatine Bulldogs were playing solid defense and attempting to pull ahead. Johnson reached to his left on a screamer down the left-field line, snaring the hard-hit ball and delivering a laser to first base to end the inning.
“It was a ground-ball down the third base line and just reacted fast and was able to throw him out at first,” Johnson said. “My leg feels better now, but I’ve been icing it a lot and feels better.”
The Wolves finally managed to plate a run in the fourth via Martin’s single to right-center field for a 1-0 lead. Griff Sinkovich, who was 2-for-3 in the game, stepped up with a huge single in the fifth inning for a 2-0 lead.
“I felt confident in the second game,” Sinkovich said. “After the first hit, I tried to get something going for us and scratch a run across and that momentum just carried over to the next two at-bats for me.
Later in the inning, Sackley showed off his potential with a massive three-run triple down to deep center that expanded the lead to 5-0 to cap the game-turning four-run fifth.
“That was probably the game right there because we were winning 2-0,” Muniz said. “We came through, but it wasn’t pretty. That’s all there was to it. We made some nice plays in the field, but I think that’s why it was so frustrating we were leaving guys on base a lot. We left too many on base and are not capitalizing like we should be.”
Sinkovich said the offense took some time to adjust to the first two pitchers, including the side-armed and tall reliever.
“It was different for all of us,” Sinkovich said. “We had to adjust to the arm slot and tried to stay focused and on the on-deck circle, I just tried to time them up well. It was a tough game. We have to clean up a few mistakes on the field and then we can get out of those games earlier.”
“That first pitcher was tough to hit because he was throwing an eephus but we started scratching up some runs off their sidearm pitcher. We have to play better and cleaner and can get out of these games in three innings.”
The Wolves picked up an impressive pitching effort from starter Brady Madden and relievers Payton Swartzendruber and Fred Sackley. Madden, Swartzendruber and Sackley combined to give up just four hits in the win, while the Wolves had nine hits. Martin paced the offense with two hits and a stolen base.
Brady pitched the first four innings, relying on his fastball to get ahead in the count.
“I was trying to make sure to throw more strikes instead of into the dirt,” Brady said. “I have to pitch better not to throw that many balls in the dirt. I was happy with my curveball today. It was on point today. I have to work more on my fastball. It was pretty inaccurate today. That one pitcher was tough to hit for us because he was throwing (slow).”
