No. 2 Lyons Township did a lot of things right when it beat York 7-2 and 9-1 to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader. Two of the things stood out.
Lions pitchers Dan Rodriguez and Jordan Baughman threw strikes. And Tim Brewer and his fellow hitters hit strikes.
Rodriguez, a stocky 5-foot-7-inch, 170-pound senior, and Baughman, a lean 6-3, 155-pound sophomore, both improved to 6-0 with complete-game victories. Lyons moved to 23-3 overall and 11-3 in the West Suburban Silver. York dropped to 13-15, 8-9.
Neither Rodriguez nor Baughman wasted pitches or time. Rodriguez pitched a two-hitter and yielded one earned run in the opener. He struck out three, Chris Green made a circus catch in center and the Lions’ infielders registered the other 17 outs.
Baughman struck out six, walked none and lost his shutout when the Dukes bunched three of their five hits in the sixth. The two games were played in 3 1/2 hours.
Offensively, host Lyons had 24 hits in its 12 innings at bat. Brewer tripled in each game. Kevin Diete went 5-for-5 with two doubles. Brian Davis had five hits.
The three biggest hits in the opener–Brewer’s two-run triple and two-run doubles by Dave Smetana and Diete–came on first pitches or first strikes.
“We’re aggressive at bat,” Brewer said. “If we see a strike, we like to swing at it. Sometimes the first strike is the best pitch you’re going to see. Sometimes a pitcher takes something off a first pitch to get it over and get ahead on the count. That is a pitch to hit.”
The Lions played outstanding defense, especially shortstop Dave Gentile, who flawlessly handled 13 chances.
