K-K- Kartheiser
Somonauk Senior Hurler Strikes Sandwich ...
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Photo by Bill Lidinsky
Somonauk senior pitcher Brock Kartheiser prepares to throw a pitch in
his team's game against Sandwich. Karthheiser had 13 strikeouts and
went 2-for-3 at the plate in the Bobcats' 10-6 win over the Indians.
Somonauk senior pitcher Brock Kartheiser prepares to throw a pitch in
his team's game against Sandwich. Karthheiser had 13 strikeouts and
went 2-for-3 at the plate in the Bobcats' 10-6 win over the Indians.
By Bill Lidinsky
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Contributor
SANDWICH - There’s really no secret that Somonauk pitcher Brock Kartheiser is one of
the finest small school hurlers in northern Illinois.
Not only that, he’s a pretty accomplished hitter as well.
Kartheiser put his considerable talents on display Tuesday as the Bobcats traveled a few
miles east to battle their neighbors from Sandwich in an early season contest between
Little Ten and Interstate Eight Conference foes.
Chalk one up for the LTC, Somonauk and Kartheiser. The senior was at most times
outstanding on the mound. Even though he surrendered six runs (four earned) on six hits,
he was dominant the rest of the time striking out 13 Indians and walking only one, while
throwing an impressive 77 of 118 pitches for strikes on the day.
Add to that, a two-for-three day at the plate with two doubles, four RBI, two walks, and two
runs scored and Kartheiser’s afternoon at Sandwich could be considered extremely
successful in leading his club to a hard fought 10-6 win.
Somonauk (2-0-2) also took advantage of nine walks and one hit batsman as Sandwich
pitching struggled to find rhythm.
But overall, it was Kartheiser’s day to shine brightest.
“Today I just tried to keep the ball down and mix it up a little bit. There’s a short porch
here at Sandwich, so you don’t want to leave anything up,” Kartheiser said. “I also tried a
new pitch with my slider and that was working well too along with spotting my fastball
inside outside. It was a fun game.”
“He (Kartheiser) is a very good pitcher. We see fine pitchers like that everyday in our
conference and we know we have to be aggressive against that type of player. He’s going
to be aggressive at you,” said Sandwich head baseball coach Derek Avery. “We let him
get ahead in the count all day and he took advantage of that. His slider, curveball or
whatever he was throwing looked pretty nasty at times. But we gave them too much today
on the other end with all the walks. It’s no secret when you walk that many guys, including
guys in the lower part of the order, that the top part of the lineup will make you pay and
that’s what happened today.”
The two clubs were scoreless after two innings of play before Sandwich starter Kaleb
Strothman ran into some control issues. Three walks and two wild pitches led to three
Somonauk runs.
Aaron Alvarez (2-3, 2 RBI) had an RBI double in the frame and Mack Land (1-4, 1 RBI)
added a run-scoring single to help put the Bobcats up 3-0 after two and a half innings.
But the Indians countered with three runs (two earned) off Kartheiser to tie the score up in
the bottom of the third. An RBI triple by Josh Fischbach (1-4, 1 RBI), and a run-scoring
double by Matt Morse (1-4, 1 RBI), whom later tallied on an error, knotted the game up.
“We tied the score up and I thought we were looking pretty good, then we gave it right
back to them,” Avery said.
In the top of the fourth, Strothman couldn’t retire a batter, struggling with his control again.
Derek Morsch and Colin Stahl led off with consecutive walks. Danny Heerhold (2-5)
followed with a single to load the bases. Jeremy Schmitt (3-4, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI) then
plated Morsch with a single. Kartheiser then delivered with a huge bases loaded double to
left centerfield that scored Stahl, Heerhold, and Schmitt to put Somonauk up 7-3. Avery
pulled Strothman in lieu of reliever Nick Deutsch, but the damage was done with
Kartheiser delivering the key blow.
“I knew he (Strothman) would throw me a couple junk pitches to start. Then I was just
sitting on a fastball and it came and I hit it into the gap,” Kartheiser said.
But Sandwich battled back again with two more runs off Kartheiser in the bottom of the
fourth courtesy of a two-run homer off the bat of senior No. 9 hitter Bryan Lopez (2-2, 2
RBI) who registered only the second round tripper of his high school career. Somonauk’s
lead was cut to 7-5 after four.
“This one felt pretty good to hit. His (Kartheiser) first pitch was a ball, then he threw that
curveball which was a nice pitch,” Lopez aid. “I’ll give it to him, he’s a very good pitcher.
But I think I just had his number today getting two hits off him with a single and a homer. I
think he just left a fastball a little too high and I hit it.”
After a scoreless fifth, the Bobcats touched Deutsch for two runs in the top of the sixth as
Kartheiser nailed another RBI double and Alvarez added a run scoring single to put
Somonauk up 9-5.
Sandwich (3-4) would get an unearned run in the bottom of the frame to make the score 9-
6 and had the bases loaded with two out. But Kartheiser got Morse to fly out to left, which
ended the Indian threat.
“We had our chances in the fifth and in the sixth against him (Kartheiser), especially in the
sixth when we had the bases loaded. But we let him off the hook and he closed out the
game strong in the seventh inning,” Avery said.
The Bobcats would close out the day scoring in the top of the seventh with an unearned
run off Deutsch and the Kartheiser finished out his remarkable afternoon in the bottom of
the frame.
He got Jake and Justin Wegener looking on strikes and coaxed pinch hitter Tony
Warpecha to bounce out second to first to end the game as Somonauk prevailed by four
with Kartheiser serving as the main catalyst to victory.
“Brock certainly did what he could to beat Sandwich on the mound in impressive fashion I
thought with all the strikeouts. He also had some very timely hitting which was equally
impressive,” said Somonauk head coach Bob Honkala. “Hats off to Sandwich, because
they’re a very good team and very well coached. But it wasn’t their day. In the end it was
ours with Brock leading the way.”
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
SANDWICH - There’s really no secret that Somonauk pitcher Brock Kartheiser is one of
the finest small school hurlers in northern Illinois.
Not only that, he’s a pretty accomplished hitter as well.
Kartheiser put his considerable talents on display Tuesday as the Bobcats traveled a few
miles east to battle their neighbors from Sandwich in an early season contest between
Little Ten and Interstate Eight Conference foes.
Chalk one up for the LTC, Somonauk and Kartheiser. The senior was at most times
outstanding on the mound. Even though he surrendered six runs (four earned) on six hits,
he was dominant the rest of the time striking out 13 Indians and walking only one, while
throwing an impressive 77 of 118 pitches for strikes on the day.
Add to that, a two-for-three day at the plate with two doubles, four RBI, two walks, and two
runs scored and Kartheiser’s afternoon at Sandwich could be considered extremely
successful in leading his club to a hard fought 10-6 win.
Somonauk (2-0-2) also took advantage of nine walks and one hit batsman as Sandwich
pitching struggled to find rhythm.
But overall, it was Kartheiser’s day to shine brightest.
“Today I just tried to keep the ball down and mix it up a little bit. There’s a short porch
here at Sandwich, so you don’t want to leave anything up,” Kartheiser said. “I also tried a
new pitch with my slider and that was working well too along with spotting my fastball
inside outside. It was a fun game.”
“He (Kartheiser) is a very good pitcher. We see fine pitchers like that everyday in our
conference and we know we have to be aggressive against that type of player. He’s going
to be aggressive at you,” said Sandwich head baseball coach Derek Avery. “We let him
get ahead in the count all day and he took advantage of that. His slider, curveball or
whatever he was throwing looked pretty nasty at times. But we gave them too much today
on the other end with all the walks. It’s no secret when you walk that many guys, including
guys in the lower part of the order, that the top part of the lineup will make you pay and
that’s what happened today.”
The two clubs were scoreless after two innings of play before Sandwich starter Kaleb
Strothman ran into some control issues. Three walks and two wild pitches led to three
Somonauk runs.
Aaron Alvarez (2-3, 2 RBI) had an RBI double in the frame and Mack Land (1-4, 1 RBI)
added a run-scoring single to help put the Bobcats up 3-0 after two and a half innings.
But the Indians countered with three runs (two earned) off Kartheiser to tie the score up in
the bottom of the third. An RBI triple by Josh Fischbach (1-4, 1 RBI), and a run-scoring
double by Matt Morse (1-4, 1 RBI), whom later tallied on an error, knotted the game up.
“We tied the score up and I thought we were looking pretty good, then we gave it right
back to them,” Avery said.
In the top of the fourth, Strothman couldn’t retire a batter, struggling with his control again.
Derek Morsch and Colin Stahl led off with consecutive walks. Danny Heerhold (2-5)
followed with a single to load the bases. Jeremy Schmitt (3-4, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI) then
plated Morsch with a single. Kartheiser then delivered with a huge bases loaded double to
left centerfield that scored Stahl, Heerhold, and Schmitt to put Somonauk up 7-3. Avery
pulled Strothman in lieu of reliever Nick Deutsch, but the damage was done with
Kartheiser delivering the key blow.
“I knew he (Strothman) would throw me a couple junk pitches to start. Then I was just
sitting on a fastball and it came and I hit it into the gap,” Kartheiser said.
But Sandwich battled back again with two more runs off Kartheiser in the bottom of the
fourth courtesy of a two-run homer off the bat of senior No. 9 hitter Bryan Lopez (2-2, 2
RBI) who registered only the second round tripper of his high school career. Somonauk’s
lead was cut to 7-5 after four.
“This one felt pretty good to hit. His (Kartheiser) first pitch was a ball, then he threw that
curveball which was a nice pitch,” Lopez aid. “I’ll give it to him, he’s a very good pitcher.
But I think I just had his number today getting two hits off him with a single and a homer. I
think he just left a fastball a little too high and I hit it.”
After a scoreless fifth, the Bobcats touched Deutsch for two runs in the top of the sixth as
Kartheiser nailed another RBI double and Alvarez added a run scoring single to put
Somonauk up 9-5.
Sandwich (3-4) would get an unearned run in the bottom of the frame to make the score 9-
6 and had the bases loaded with two out. But Kartheiser got Morse to fly out to left, which
ended the Indian threat.
“We had our chances in the fifth and in the sixth against him (Kartheiser), especially in the
sixth when we had the bases loaded. But we let him off the hook and he closed out the
game strong in the seventh inning,” Avery said.
The Bobcats would close out the day scoring in the top of the seventh with an unearned
run off Deutsch and the Kartheiser finished out his remarkable afternoon in the bottom of
the frame.
He got Jake and Justin Wegener looking on strikes and coaxed pinch hitter Tony
Warpecha to bounce out second to first to end the game as Somonauk prevailed by four
with Kartheiser serving as the main catalyst to victory.
“Brock certainly did what he could to beat Sandwich on the mound in impressive fashion I
thought with all the strikeouts. He also had some very timely hitting which was equally
impressive,” said Somonauk head coach Bob Honkala. “Hats off to Sandwich, because
they’re a very good team and very well coached. But it wasn’t their day. In the end it was
ours with Brock leading the way.”
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!
At Sandwich
Somonauk 10, Sandwich 6
Somonauk (10) – Heerhold ss
5-1-2-0, Schmitt cf 4-3-2-1,
Kartheiser p 3-2-2-4, Alvarez
1b 3-0-2-2, Land 2B 4-0-1-1, J.
Morsch dh 4-0-0-0, Green c
0-0-0-0, Thayer lf 1-0-0-0,
Weslowski lf 0-1-0-0, D.
Morsch 3b 3-1-0-0, Stahl rf
2-2-0-0. Totals 29-10-9-8.
Sandwich (6) – Fischbach 2b
4-1-1-1, Benedetti lf 4-0-1-0,
Morse ss 4-1-1-1, Ja. Wegener
dh 4-0-0-0, Athenat 1b 0-0-0-0,
Ju. Wegener rf 4-0-0-0,
Considine c 2-0-0-0, Veliz ph
1-0-0-0, Warpecha ph 1-0-0-0,
Strothman p 1-0-0-0, Deutsch
p 2-0-0-0, Voss 3b2-2-1-0,
Lopez cf 2-2-2-2. Totals 31-6-6-
4.
Somonauk 003 402 1 – 10 9 5
Sandwich 003 201 0 – 6 6 3
LOB – Somonauk 8; Sandwich
6. 2B – Alvarez, Kartheiser (2),
Morse. 3B – Fischbach,
Benedetti. HR – Lopez. SB –
Schmitt, Kartheiser, Alvarez,
Stahl, Morse, Voss. CS –
Weslowski, Thayer. HBP –
Weslowski (by Deutsch), Lopez
(by Kartheiser).
Somonauk ip r er h k bb hb
Kartheiser (W) 7 6 4 6 13 1 1
Sandwich
Strothman (L) 3 7 7 5 4 8 0
Deutsch 4 3 1 4 8 1 1
Records - Somonauk (2-0-2),
Sandwich (3-4).
Somonauk 10, Sandwich 6
Somonauk (10) – Heerhold ss
5-1-2-0, Schmitt cf 4-3-2-1,
Kartheiser p 3-2-2-4, Alvarez
1b 3-0-2-2, Land 2B 4-0-1-1, J.
Morsch dh 4-0-0-0, Green c
0-0-0-0, Thayer lf 1-0-0-0,
Weslowski lf 0-1-0-0, D.
Morsch 3b 3-1-0-0, Stahl rf
2-2-0-0. Totals 29-10-9-8.
Sandwich (6) – Fischbach 2b
4-1-1-1, Benedetti lf 4-0-1-0,
Morse ss 4-1-1-1, Ja. Wegener
dh 4-0-0-0, Athenat 1b 0-0-0-0,
Ju. Wegener rf 4-0-0-0,
Considine c 2-0-0-0, Veliz ph
1-0-0-0, Warpecha ph 1-0-0-0,
Strothman p 1-0-0-0, Deutsch
p 2-0-0-0, Voss 3b2-2-1-0,
Lopez cf 2-2-2-2. Totals 31-6-6-
4.
Somonauk 003 402 1 – 10 9 5
Sandwich 003 201 0 – 6 6 3
LOB – Somonauk 8; Sandwich
6. 2B – Alvarez, Kartheiser (2),
Morse. 3B – Fischbach,
Benedetti. HR – Lopez. SB –
Schmitt, Kartheiser, Alvarez,
Stahl, Morse, Voss. CS –
Weslowski, Thayer. HBP –
Weslowski (by Deutsch), Lopez
(by Kartheiser).
Somonauk ip r er h k bb hb
Kartheiser (W) 7 6 4 6 13 1 1
Sandwich
Strothman (L) 3 7 7 5 4 8 0
Deutsch 4 3 1 4 8 1 1
Records - Somonauk (2-0-2),
Sandwich (3-4).
C o d y' s
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