Lisle 11, Wilmington 7

Lisle's baseball team met pressure with pressure.

Even as visiting Wilmington inched closer on the scoreboard, the Lions kept finding ways to extend the gap again.

Scoring in five of the six innings it batted, Lisle held off the Wildcats 11-7 in Friday's Interstate Eight Conference North Division matchup.

After dropping their first two IEC games, the Lions (5-3, 1-2) claimed their first league victory.

"You can't sit there and be satisfied with what you've got," said Lisle coach Pete Meyer. "They're always a very good hitting team, but we just answered the call. We executed very well today. Defensively and offensively it was very good."

Four runs in the bottom of the fourth gave Lisle and sophomore ace Jon Surber (2-0), who pitched 6 innings for the win, what appeared to be a comfortable 7-1 lead.

With one swing, however, Wilmington (7-3, 2-2) jumped back into the game in the top of the fifth inning. A single, an error and a hit batter loaded the bases for Kyle Cragg, who blasted a grand slam over the center-field fence to pull the Wildcats within 7-5.

In the bottom of the fifth, Lisle got 2 runs right back. Freshman Will DeCraene, who went 3-for-3, smacked a huge two-out, 2-run single to boost the margin back to 9-5.

"They always answered," said Wilmington coach Chad Farrell. "They always put the bat on the ball, and they always seemed to find the holes. That's the way baseball is sometimes."

Jon Kolosky's RBI single sparked a 2-run sixth inning that put Lisle ahead 11-5. Cort Scheel and John Keoulis drove in runs for Wilmington in the top of the seventh to account for the 11-7 final.

A balk staked Lisle to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. After Wilmington tied it up in the third, the Lions scored twice in the bottom of the inning on Billy Potter's RBI double and a run-scoring single by Ryne McGovern.

Potter doubled home 2 runs in the fourth inning. Surber added an RBI single and McGovern's groundout brought home the Lions' seventh run.

Jay Osika went 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot for Lisle. Potter and Surber had 2 hits apiece. Neil Ruzich had 3 hits, including 2 doubles, for Wilmington.

"We came to play," Potter said. "The weather was bad, but we all came out with heart and made the best of it. You've just got to keep hitting and keep getting runs."