ROCKFORD, Ill. - It was a great day on Friday as the Regents baseball team finally was able to play its first home games of the 2013 season. Despite the cold temperatures, roaring wind and snow flurries on Friday afternoon, the Regents were glad to be playing games in Rockford after opening with 22 straight games away from home. The baseball team welcomed the Maranatha Baptist Bible College Crusaders to the Smith Athletic Field looking to keep its perfect 12-0 record against Maranatha spotless. The Regents did just that winning game one 19-0 and taking game two 11-1.
Rockford used a huge 11-run first inning to take control in the opening game. The Regents opened the bottom of the first inning with 7 straight hits including back-to-back doubles. Freshman Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill./Lena-Winslow) drove in the first run of the game doubling into left center field. Daryn Streed (Belvidere, Ill./North) followed with a double of his own to score Logemann giving Rockford a 2-0 lead. Chris Senn (Apple Valley, Calif./Silverado) and Terry Wiltshire (Elizabeth, Ill./River Ridge) continued the hit parade with RBI singles of their own. A handful of batters later Matt Grimes (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) laced his second single of the inning into the outfield to drive in a pair of Regents. Logemann followed with his second hit when he singled in another run. Following a Streed sacrifice fly, Senn doubled in his second run of the inning putting Rockford up 10-0. The Regents got their final run in the first off a Crusader error and took an 11-0 lead into the second. Rockford tacked on five more runs in the second inning highlighted by a Streed RBI single, a Kyle LaMore (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley) walk that forced in a run and Ed Tatera (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North) getting hit by a pitch to push across the final run in the inning. The Regents plated two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to take game one by a final of 19-0.
Offensively the Regents had six players record two or more hits in game one. Logemann went 3-4 with a double, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Senn was also 3-4 with a double, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. Junior shortstop Matt Szytz (Huntley, Ill./Huntly) continued his hot hitting with a 3-4 performance including 2 doubles and scoring 3 runs. Grimes finished with 2 hits in 4 at bats scoring 2 runs and driving in 2 more runs. Wiltshire went 2-5 with 2 runs batted in and a run scored. Streed finished 2-3 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.
The pitching performances in game one were equally impressive as the Regents pitching staff threw its second shutout of the season. Starter Zac Wolf (LaSalle, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) threw 5 impressive innings allowing no runs and just 4 hits. Wolf also struck out a season-high 5 batters. Kyle Burger (Plainfield, Ill./North) took over in the sixth and threw a shutout inning where he stuck out the side. Sophomore reliever Bill Fell (Lake Villa, Ill./Lakes Community) threw the final inning retiring three of the four batters he faced including striking out the final batter to end the game.
The second game was more methodical for the Regents as they never scored more than three runs in an inning but still managed to score 11 runs total. The Regents again struck first scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Cole Logemann drove in his fourth run of the day with an RBI single giving Rockford an early lead. Chris Holke (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) followed with an run scoring single of his own plating Logemann and giving Rockford a 2-0 lead after the first inning. The Regents did not add to their lead until the fourth when they scored three runs. Second baseman Bobby Barrera (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) drove in the first run when he singled in Holke. Junior Joe Rigg (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) drove in the other two runs with a single into center field. Rigg continued his excellent performance in game two another two-run single in his next at bat to extend Rockford's lead to 8-0. Maranatha then scored its only run in the top of the seventh forcing the Regents to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh in order to end the game early. After scoring two runs to make it 10-1 freshman Kramer Henning (Monroe, Wis./Monroe) stepped up to the plate with two outs and a runner in scoring position. Henning battled at the plate and eventually ripped an RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Rigg and end the game and give Rockford an 11-1 victory.
The pitching staff was once again solid in game two. Senior Sean Gillette (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) was outstanding in his 5 innings on the mound. Gillette retired the first nine batters he faced and did not surrender a hit until the fifth inning when Cody Borland hit a pitch that deflected off Gillette's leg and skipped over toward third base. The senior picked up his first win of the season going 5 innings and giving up just that one hit while striking out 7 Crusaders. Junior Eric Miller (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy) picked up right where his predecessor left off striking out the side in his one inning of work. Freshman Sam Parlapiano (Rockford, Ill./Harlem) threw the final inning where he surrendered one run and struck out one batter.
The baseball team returns to the diamond on Saturday, April 20th when they travel to Lakeland College. The doubleheader is set to begin at noon.
