(Sugar Grove, IL) –Waubonsee Community College's baseball team dropped a pair of Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) games to Morton College on Tuesday, losing game one 9-0 and falling 7-4 in game two. The Chiefs, who have now lost nine straight games, fell to 5-14 overall and 0-4 in the ISCC. The Panthers, winners of nine of their last ten games, improved to 15-5 overall and 2-0 in the ISCC with the doubleheader sweep.
The Chiefs have been somewhat inconsistent so far this season. Waubonsee went 3-5 on their Spring Trip to Florida in early March, with a win over Niagara County (NY) Community College, the number two-ranked NJCAA Division III team in the nation at the time. However, since then the Chiefs have dropped doubleheaders to Milwaukee Area (WI) Technical College, Joliet Junior College, McHenry County College and now Morton.
The Panthers got on the board in the top of the second when Diego DaRin led off with a double to left centerfield and Nick Tampa promptly drilled the next pitch over the right field fence for a 2-0 Panthers' lead. Chiefs' starter Michael Lorenz responded by striking out the next three Morton hitters. The Panthers tacked on a third run in the third via a walk, stolen base, error and wild pitch. Morton added three more runs in the fifth on a two-run double by Alex Brodie, who scored two batters later when DaRin doubled to right center field.
Meanwhile, Morton's Logan Romasanta was nearly perfect on the mound. The right-hander retired the first eight batters of the game before walking Jason Daniels with two outs in the third. Waubonsee did not get another base runner until two outs in the sixth when Blake Edgmon broke up the freshman's no-hit bid with a double to right center. However, by then the Panthers had a comfortable 8-0 lead. Romasanta finished off the complete game, one-hit shutout by setting down the next four batters, striking out 10 and tossing only 87 pitches total for the game. Lorenz took the loss giving up six runs on six hits, while striking out five and walking three over five innings of work.
Game two was a different story for a little while at least. Edgmon drew a leadoff walk and Ryan Stempowski laid down a perfect drag bunt for a base hit to start things off in the bottom of the first inning. Dante Maietta then launched a deep fly to the left field fence that was hauled in by Morton's Kyle Washington. Edgmon tagged up and went to third, and scored when the relay throw sailed over the third baseman's head and out of play. Brendan Wilson then followed with a prodigious two-run homer to right center field to quickly make it 3-0.
Morton responded in the top of the second sending nine batters to the plate on the way to scoring four runs off Waubonsee starter Julio Romero. A two-out, bases-loaded triple by Thomas Schroeder was the big blow, knotting the score at 3-all. The score remained 4-3 in favor of Morton until the top of the fourth when the Panthers got a two-run single to left field by cleanup hitter Julio Trevino to make it 6-3.
After the first inning, Morton starter Paolo Zavala limited Waubonsee to just one hit over the next three frames. However, he exited after a line shot single to left field by Stempowski and a one-out walk to Wilson in the bottom of the fifth brought the potential tying run to the plate. Left-hander Luke Ostien came on in relief of Zavala and Dominic Czerwinski laced his first offering into right field. Unfortunately the sinking liner was snagged by Morton's Darrius Little, who then threw to second base to double off the Chiefs' runner to end the threat.
Waubonsee threatened once again in the sixth as Austin Stone ripped a single to right field and Alex Stroud drew a walk to start the inning. Joey Pantano then smacked a one-out run-scoring single to left to pull the Chiefs within 6-4. Ostien exited and right-hander Tyler Kott came on in relief for Morton. The sophomore from Mesa, Arizona enticed two fly balls to get out of the jam.
The Panthers used that momentum in the top of the seventh piecing together a couple singles and a passed ball to score a run off Chiefs' reliever Mike Gatze. Kott then picked up his fourth save of the season, retiring five of the six batters he faced. Romero took the loss allowing six runs on seven hits, walking eight and striking out three. Zavala was the winning pitcher going four and a third innings, three runs on five hits while walking four and striking out two. Stempowski and Stone each finished with two hits for Waubonsee.
The Chiefs are set to host perennial NJCAA Division II power Kankakee Community College (21-4) tomorrow in a single, 9-inning contest beginning at 3:00 p.m.