As the defending Class AA state champions, St. Charles is well versed in the formula for extracting a victory out of a close game.
“Get a guy on base, try to get him in scoring position, and have someone be a hero,” St. Charles coach Len Asquini said. “Today we had that happen.”
The hero’s cape was donned Thursday by both Jeff Dunaway and pitcher Will Schinagl, as the No. 10 Saints rallied for a 4-2 eight-inning victory over visiting Fremd Vikings.
Schinagl went the distance and struck out eight to even his record at 1-1. He also scored ahead of Dunaway’s game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.
Poor defense by St. Charles (3-2) enabled Fremd to take an early lead, but the Vikings could not take advantage of their early scoring opportunities and provide some breathing room to junior southpaw Jeff Maitland.
Maitland retired the first seven Saints he faced and 11 of the first 13, finishing with 10 strikeouts. Yet the Vikings (5-2) could manage only a pair of unearned runs during their early opportunities, and an RBI single by St. Charles’ Adam Milauskas kept the Saints within one.
“In the first three innings we made some pretty big mistakes,” Asquini said. “Fortunately they didn’t hurt us too badly. It only pushed two runs across for them. We told them we had to tighten up, and Schinagl kept us in the game.”
With Schinagl keeping the Fremd bats cold, St. Charles pulled even on an RBI single by Tyler Sheehan in the bottom of the sixth.
Sheehan had struck out in two previous at-bats against Maitland, but lined an off-speed offering to left to score Dunaway with the tying run.
Schinagl retired the Vikings in order in the seventh and retired three in a row after Maitland’s leadoff single in the eighth.
Maitland retired the first batter in the bottom of the eighth before getting into trouble when Schinagl, the Saints’ leadoff hitter, connected for a single to left. Dunaway ended the affair by driving a 2-1 pitch over the fence in deep left-center.
“I felt better as the game went on,” Schinagl said. “I had all my pitches working today. Being the leadoff hitter you have to get on base, and I did what I was supposed to. Then [Dunaway] pulled through in the RBI situation. He got a great pitch to hit and he hit it.”
