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52 | May 4, 2017 | The frankfort station sports
frankfortstation.com
Baseball
Griffins play to strengths, step up in win
Frank Gogola
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way East senior
Joe Prestamer knows he
does not have the quickest
fastball, so he has to trust
in his off-speed pitches this
season.
He looked to those offspeed
pitches again to help
East escape a late-game,
bases-loaded jam and end
Sandburg’s best chance of
staging a comeback in a recent
conference victory.
“I’m not really going to
blow fastballs by guys too
much, so I rely on keeping
guys off balance,” Prestamer
said. “My off-speed
pitches were getting mainly
pop ups, getting guys to
roll over and out ahead, so
just attack the zone like any
other batter and trust my
field to step on a base if we
have to.”
Prestamer gave up one run
in six innings and his offense
took advantage of walks
as East beat Sandburg, 3-1,
for the second time in three
days to sweep the defending
SouthWest Suburban Blue
champs on Thursday, April
27, in Orland Park.
Leading 3-1 with two outs
in the fifth, Prestamer used
his curveball to get Ryan
Hampe to pop out in front
of home plate with the bases
loaded. After bouncing two
off-speed pitches to turn an
0-2 count into a 2-2 count, he
put a curveball over the plate
and got Hampe to swing underneath
the ball.
Prestamer had loaded the
bases with a two-out walk
and hit by pitch, but East
coach Paul Babcock had
trust in him to get the final
out.
“No thought of taking him
out in that situation,” Babcock
said. “Joe’s the man.
He’s who I’m going to have
East’s Jake Arthur takes a hard swing during the 3-1 win.
out there in that spot. No
doubt in my mind.”
The Eagles managed just
one run during the 14 innings
against East. In the
second game, they had four
hits, three walks and one hit
by pitch, but they left seven
runners on base.
The Griffins got enough
offense without catcher and
cleanup hitter Jimmy Quinn,
who was out sick, who homered
in the first meeting.
They had six walks and five
hits – only one extra-base hit
– and all three of their runs
were walks that came around
to score against pitcher Evan
Tenuta.
“We’re not getting it done
offensively,” Sandburg
coach Jim Morsovillo said.
“We swung better today,
hit the ball harder, but everything
we hit was right at
them. We got some hits, got
some guys on but didn’t get
the big hit. And we walked
guys who came around to
score. You can’t do that and
win baseball games.”
Sandburg (10-4, 2-2)
dropped its second game in
three days after only losing
twice in its first 12 games.
It lost 8-0 on April 25 in
Frankfort against pitcher
Danny Zimmerman.
“Last game, [Zimmerman]
really filled it up and
competed,” Morsovillo said.
“This game, [Prestamer]
made more mistakes over
the middle of the plate, but
we didn’t make him pay.”
The wins over Sandburg
added to the Griffins’ (8-
10, 3-1) resurgence. They
have gone 7-2 after starting
1-8.
“I’m not trying to sound
cocky, but with these guys
the past two games, that’s
what I expect,” Babcock
said. “I did not expect how
we started the season. When
these guys play the way they
can, good things can happen.”
East struck first when
Brett Melby drove in Zimmerman
with a two-out RBI
single in the top of the first.
Mike Wallace drew a bases-loaded
walk in the second,
pushing pinch runner
Jacob Slager across the plate
to put East up 2-1. It was the
third walk of the inning surrendered
by Tenuta.
Wallace scored from
first base on a Zimmerman
double to the right-center
East’s Mike Wallace slides by Sandburg catcher Ryan Hampe to score Thursday, April 27,
during East’s win over Sandburg. photos by Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
Joe Prestamer leans into a pitch. Prestamer pitched six innings for the win.
field gap in the fifth to make
East’s lead 3-1.
Hampe drove in Sandburg’s
lone run on a onehopper
off the left-center
field wall. His hit scored
Seth Masters and tied the
game 1-1 in the bottom of
the first.
Nick Tortorici earned the
save with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Tenuta took the loss, surrendering
three runs on three hits
and six walks in five innings.