Baseball: St. Viator battles weather, Lake Zurich and comes out on top
Overcast, windy, 40 degrees.
It was baseball weather that only a Midwesterner could barely love Thursday.
St. Viator and host Lake Zurich battled through the seven full innings of baseball with St. Viator outlasting the Bears 11-6.
“It doesn’t get much worse than this,” said St. Viator coach Terry Beyna, who picked up his 401st career win.
“It was back and forth early in the game. I think the weather in the Midwest, there is just an element that baseball players have to be tough. And this is why. We are just glad to come out with a win.”
It was also a time to see some old friends for new Lake Zurich coach Mike Manno, who was the head coach at St. Viator for 16 seasons.
“This beats everything else, even the weather,” said Manno, who was away from coaching for two years while he was the athletic director at Nazareth Academy.
“I am glad to be back in the game. These kids make it enjoyable for me to be back out here again.”
Beyna, who is in his third season as head coach at Viator after previously coaching at Elk Grove, said it was good to be playing against Manno again.
“We have been coaching against each other for a long time,” Beyna said. “He is a good friend of mine and I have a ton of respect for him. He will do good things here.”
Viator (7-5) jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first two innings.
Brandon Thomsen’s sacrifice fly in the first scored Jonathan Tschanz, who had doubled. Zach Mascolo doubled home Jacob Oberwise, who had singled to lead off the second. Mascolo would later score on Alec Harer’s sacrifice fly.
Lake Zurich (5-4) bounced back over their next two at-bats to take a 4-3 lead.
Carson Hamblin singled to lead off the second. He would later score on a wild pitch. But the Bears missed a huge opportunity when, after having runners on second and third with no outs, St. Viator pitcher Frank Clary fanned the next three batters with a looking third strike.
The Bears did bounce back for three in the third. They took advantage of three St. Viator errors in the inning as Jackson Piggott, who had singled, scored on Hamblin’s single. Cash Kaczmarek, who reached on an error, scored on another error and Hamblin scored on AJ Foley’s single.
St. Viator surged ahead for good when they scored five in the fifth to take an 8-4 lead.
Brock Harer reached on an error and Tschanz walked. Thomsen followed with an RBI single. Brandon Hynek then drove in a pair with a double. He would then score on Oberwise’s single. Oberwise scored the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Clary.
The Lions tacked on two runs in the sixth as Tommy Beyna, who had singled, scored on an error. Hynek drove in his third run of the game with an RBI single to make it 11-4.
“It is fun anytime we can come out with a win,” Hynek said. “I am just trying to hit the ball hard, get some hits and some RBIs.”
Thomson, who had two hits and two RBI, said he was able to stay warm at times thanks to the catcher’s gear that he wears.
“When I was hitting it was freezing,” said Thomson, who is a junior and has multiple college offers.
“But behind the dish I got to wear my chest protector so I was a little bit warmer. I didn’t get any stingers today, so that is pretty good.”
Lake Zurich added a pair of runs in the seventh to close out the scoring. Kaczmarek doubled home a run and then would score on Hamblin’s third hit of the game.
“It is a work in progress,” Manno said. “We have a good group and they work hard.”