Somonauk Stomps Newark
Alvarez's Three-Hitter Keeps Bobcats Undefeated ...
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
At Somonauk
Somonauk 12, Newark 5
(5 innings)
Newark (2) – Walker p/lf 3-0-
2-1, McGrath cf 2-0-1-0,
Hardisty ss 3-1-0-0,
Bromeland c 2-0-0-0, Jeffers
3b 1-0-0-0, Hughes 1b 2-0-0-
1, Thanepohn dh 2-0-0-0,
Wiesbrook 2b 0-0-0-0,
Nelson rf 2-0-0-0, Mulligan
lf/p 1-1-0-0. Totals 18-2-3-2.
Somonauk (12) – Schmitt cf
3-2-1-0, Green c 2-3-2-0,
Kartheiser ss 4-3-1-2, Alvarez
p 3-0-1-2, Land 2b 3-2-2-3, D.
Morsch 3b 3-1-3-2, Thayer rf
3-0-0-0, J. Morsch 3-1-1-0,
Stahl lf 3-0-1-2. Totals 28-12-
12-11.
Newark 0 0 1 1 0 – 2 3 2
Somo. 3 0 4 2 3 – 12 12 1
LOB – Newark 4; Somonauk
6. 2B – Kartheiser, D. Morsch.
SB – Green. CS – Alvarez. SF
– Alvarez. HBP – Jeffers (by
Alvarez).
Newark ip r er h bb k
Walker (L, 2-6) 4 9 7 9 4 4
Mulligan 1 3 1 3 1 2
Somonauk
Alvarez (W, 4-0) 5 2 1 3 2 4
Records: Newark (8-11, 4-4
LTC), Somonauk 13-0, 8-0)
Somonauk 12, Newark 5
(5 innings)
Newark (2) – Walker p/lf 3-0-
2-1, McGrath cf 2-0-1-0,
Hardisty ss 3-1-0-0,
Bromeland c 2-0-0-0, Jeffers
3b 1-0-0-0, Hughes 1b 2-0-0-
1, Thanepohn dh 2-0-0-0,
Wiesbrook 2b 0-0-0-0,
Nelson rf 2-0-0-0, Mulligan
lf/p 1-1-0-0. Totals 18-2-3-2.
Somonauk (12) – Schmitt cf
3-2-1-0, Green c 2-3-2-0,
Kartheiser ss 4-3-1-2, Alvarez
p 3-0-1-2, Land 2b 3-2-2-3, D.
Morsch 3b 3-1-3-2, Thayer rf
3-0-0-0, J. Morsch 3-1-1-0,
Stahl lf 3-0-1-2. Totals 28-12-
12-11.
Newark 0 0 1 1 0 – 2 3 2
Somo. 3 0 4 2 3 – 12 12 1
LOB – Newark 4; Somonauk
6. 2B – Kartheiser, D. Morsch.
SB – Green. CS – Alvarez. SF
– Alvarez. HBP – Jeffers (by
Alvarez).
Newark ip r er h bb k
Walker (L, 2-6) 4 9 7 9 4 4
Mulligan 1 3 1 3 1 2
Somonauk
Alvarez (W, 4-0) 5 2 1 3 2 4
Records: Newark (8-11, 4-4
LTC), Somonauk 13-0, 8-0)
By Bill Lidinsky
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Contributor
SOMONAUK - On Tuesday April 13, Somonauk pitcher Aaron Alvarez threw a no-hitter at
Serena during a 13-0 Bobcat victory. One week later, Alvarez had the challenging task of
trying to follow up that tremendous performance this time against Little Ten Conference
rival Newark.
While it wasn’t the dominating performance he had against the Huskers, it was a job well
done for Alvarez nonetheless.
The senior right-hander allowed only two runs (one earned) on three hits, while striking
out four and walking only two as he led his team to a 12-2 five-inning victory over the
Norsemen at Somonauk on Tuesday.
It was Somonauk’s second ten-run win against Newark in as many days and it kept one of
area’s hottest teams undefeated with a 13-0 record overall and a perfect 8-0 mark in the
LTC.
“Aaron (Alvarez) didn’t have his great stuff like last week, and I think he knew it. But he
went out there and threw strikes and let our offense do the work,” said Somonauk coach
Bob Honkala. “I don’t think he (Alvarez) is 100 percent satisfied with his start. But at the
end of the day his job is to go out and give us a chance to win and that’s exactly what he
did.”
“He (Alvarez) is a tough kid,” said Newark coach Brian Holman. “You can tell right away he’
s not a born pitcher, but he works hard. He’s even got that tough looking beard going out
there and he’s got his hard hat on figuring out how to work around you. He throws
knuckleballs, sliders, fastballs and we struggled to hit him today. He’s a ballplayer. You
can’t expect to get much off him, maybe three or four runs. So when you go against him
you have to keep the game close and we didn’t.”
Alvarez was staked to an early lead as he and his teammates tallied three runs off Newark
starter Cody Walker in the bottom of the first inning.
Jeremy Schmitt (1-3, 2 runs) led off with a single to left field followed by Eric Green’s walk.
Brock Kartheiser (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI) then drilled Walker with a ground rule double to left field
that plated Schmitt and the Bobcats were up 1-0. Alvarez (1-3, 2 RBI) then drove home
Green from third with a sacrifice fly to right and Somonauk led 2-0.
Two batters later, Derek Morsch (3-3, 2B, 2 RBI) legged out an infield single that scored
Kartheiser and the Bobcats were off and running up 3-0 after one.
After Alvarez retired the first eight batters he faced, Newark finally dented his armor in the
top of the third to cut Somonauk’s lead to 3-1. With two out, Ryan Mulligan walked and
went to second when Alvarez was ticketed with a balk. Walker then drove home Mulligan
with the first Norsemen hit of the day off Alvarez and Newark was in business.
But not for long.
The Bobcats plated four more runs in the bottom of the frame as Alvarez stroked a RBI
single followed by Mack Land’s run-scoring hit. Three batters later, sophomore No. 9
hitter Colin Stahl lasered a two-run single to right and the Bobcats led 7-1 after three.
“It was really nice to see that early and even overall in today’s game we had nice offensive
balance from top to bottom,” Honkala said. “When you get a big hit from your nine hitter
and you get a couple more thrown in from your seven and eight you tend to get some nice
offensive innings and we had those today.”
Newark (8-11, 4-4) added an unearned run off Alvarez in the top of the fourth before
Somonauk plated two more runs in the bottom of the stanza. Derek Morsch registered his
third hit of the day with an RBI double to left and Land then followed by scampering home
after a Walker wild pitch as the Bobcats led 9-2 after four innings.
“Lately I’ve been trying to keep my head in there, just making contact and it’s been
working out well for me,” Derek Morsch said. “I’ve been lining the ball well and today it was
the same. It’s nice to get the hits and the RBI’s.”
The Bobcats weren’t finished as they ended Newark’s day early with three runs off
Mulligan, who had come on in relief of Walker in the bottom of the fifth. The key blow was
Land’s two-out, two-strike walk-off single that tallied Schmitt and Green with the scores
that put Somonauk up ten before the IHSA mercy rule kicked in.
“I was thinking about ending the game early the whole time at bat. Right now the ball’s
looking like it’s going down the middle and I’m seeing it very well,” Land said. “Coach
(Honkala) put me in the five hole this year and I’m happy about that. I was hitting seventh
last year but now it’s given me the opportunity to get RBI’s and I’m taking advantage of it.”
With the win Alvarez raises his record to 4-0, while Walker drops to 2-6 with the loss.
“At Serena last week I thought I did a pretty good job pitching, but today against Newark I
could have done better,” Alvarez said. “It’s good to be undefeated so far this year.
Hopefully I can continue to pitch well and as a team we can keep this momentum going.”
“Being undefeated is a burden to carry somewhat, but you really wouldn’t have it any
other way. We don’t look back that we’re 13-0, we look forward to tomorrow and want to
take one game at a time right now,” Honkala said. “It’s also nice to be undefeated at 8-0 in
conference play. Right now everyone else in our conference has at least one loss. So we
control our own destiny. If we go out, keep winning, and continue the strong approach we’
ve been taking, maybe we can keep this streak going. Today’s win against Newark was
another step in that positive direction.”
During the winning streak, Somonauk has outscored its opponents 188-31, while
averaging 14.5 runs per game, and allowing only 2.4 tallies per contest. The Bobcats
have also produced ten double-digit victories, seven of which have been shortened due
to the slaughter rule.
Bill Lidinsky is a Northern Illinois Sports Beat contributor. He can be reached in care of
NISB at Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our
Message Boards!
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Contributor
SOMONAUK - On Tuesday April 13, Somonauk pitcher Aaron Alvarez threw a no-hitter at
Serena during a 13-0 Bobcat victory. One week later, Alvarez had the challenging task of
trying to follow up that tremendous performance this time against Little Ten Conference
rival Newark.
While it wasn’t the dominating performance he had against the Huskers, it was a job well
done for Alvarez nonetheless.
The senior right-hander allowed only two runs (one earned) on three hits, while striking
out four and walking only two as he led his team to a 12-2 five-inning victory over the
Norsemen at Somonauk on Tuesday.
It was Somonauk’s second ten-run win against Newark in as many days and it kept one of
area’s hottest teams undefeated with a 13-0 record overall and a perfect 8-0 mark in the
LTC.
“Aaron (Alvarez) didn’t have his great stuff like last week, and I think he knew it. But he
went out there and threw strikes and let our offense do the work,” said Somonauk coach
Bob Honkala. “I don’t think he (Alvarez) is 100 percent satisfied with his start. But at the
end of the day his job is to go out and give us a chance to win and that’s exactly what he
did.”
“He (Alvarez) is a tough kid,” said Newark coach Brian Holman. “You can tell right away he’
s not a born pitcher, but he works hard. He’s even got that tough looking beard going out
there and he’s got his hard hat on figuring out how to work around you. He throws
knuckleballs, sliders, fastballs and we struggled to hit him today. He’s a ballplayer. You
can’t expect to get much off him, maybe three or four runs. So when you go against him
you have to keep the game close and we didn’t.”
Alvarez was staked to an early lead as he and his teammates tallied three runs off Newark
starter Cody Walker in the bottom of the first inning.
Jeremy Schmitt (1-3, 2 runs) led off with a single to left field followed by Eric Green’s walk.
Brock Kartheiser (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI) then drilled Walker with a ground rule double to left field
that plated Schmitt and the Bobcats were up 1-0. Alvarez (1-3, 2 RBI) then drove home
Green from third with a sacrifice fly to right and Somonauk led 2-0.
Two batters later, Derek Morsch (3-3, 2B, 2 RBI) legged out an infield single that scored
Kartheiser and the Bobcats were off and running up 3-0 after one.
After Alvarez retired the first eight batters he faced, Newark finally dented his armor in the
top of the third to cut Somonauk’s lead to 3-1. With two out, Ryan Mulligan walked and
went to second when Alvarez was ticketed with a balk. Walker then drove home Mulligan
with the first Norsemen hit of the day off Alvarez and Newark was in business.
But not for long.
The Bobcats plated four more runs in the bottom of the frame as Alvarez stroked a RBI
single followed by Mack Land’s run-scoring hit. Three batters later, sophomore No. 9
hitter Colin Stahl lasered a two-run single to right and the Bobcats led 7-1 after three.
“It was really nice to see that early and even overall in today’s game we had nice offensive
balance from top to bottom,” Honkala said. “When you get a big hit from your nine hitter
and you get a couple more thrown in from your seven and eight you tend to get some nice
offensive innings and we had those today.”
Newark (8-11, 4-4) added an unearned run off Alvarez in the top of the fourth before
Somonauk plated two more runs in the bottom of the stanza. Derek Morsch registered his
third hit of the day with an RBI double to left and Land then followed by scampering home
after a Walker wild pitch as the Bobcats led 9-2 after four innings.
“Lately I’ve been trying to keep my head in there, just making contact and it’s been
working out well for me,” Derek Morsch said. “I’ve been lining the ball well and today it was
the same. It’s nice to get the hits and the RBI’s.”
The Bobcats weren’t finished as they ended Newark’s day early with three runs off
Mulligan, who had come on in relief of Walker in the bottom of the fifth. The key blow was
Land’s two-out, two-strike walk-off single that tallied Schmitt and Green with the scores
that put Somonauk up ten before the IHSA mercy rule kicked in.
“I was thinking about ending the game early the whole time at bat. Right now the ball’s
looking like it’s going down the middle and I’m seeing it very well,” Land said. “Coach
(Honkala) put me in the five hole this year and I’m happy about that. I was hitting seventh
last year but now it’s given me the opportunity to get RBI’s and I’m taking advantage of it.”
With the win Alvarez raises his record to 4-0, while Walker drops to 2-6 with the loss.
“At Serena last week I thought I did a pretty good job pitching, but today against Newark I
could have done better,” Alvarez said. “It’s good to be undefeated so far this year.
Hopefully I can continue to pitch well and as a team we can keep this momentum going.”
“Being undefeated is a burden to carry somewhat, but you really wouldn’t have it any
other way. We don’t look back that we’re 13-0, we look forward to tomorrow and want to
take one game at a time right now,” Honkala said. “It’s also nice to be undefeated at 8-0 in
conference play. Right now everyone else in our conference has at least one loss. So we
control our own destiny. If we go out, keep winning, and continue the strong approach we’
ve been taking, maybe we can keep this streak going. Today’s win against Newark was
another step in that positive direction.”
During the winning streak, Somonauk has outscored its opponents 188-31, while
averaging 14.5 runs per game, and allowing only 2.4 tallies per contest. The Bobcats
have also produced ten double-digit victories, seven of which have been shortened due
to the slaughter rule.
Bill Lidinsky is a Northern Illinois Sports Beat contributor. He can be reached in care of
NISB at Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our
Message Boards!
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