Baseball: Minooka bats bust loose, complete three-game sweep of Oswego East

OSWEGO – The Minooka Indians concluded a three-game series sweep of the Oswego East Wolves with a 16-4 victory in Thursday afternoon’s game in Oswego.

Minooka poured on the runs early, scoring five and batting through the order in the first inning. Junior right-fielder Isaac Goddard went 3 for 4 with three hits and three RBIs.

Junior second baseman Noah Pharo also had a three-hit afternoon with three RBIs, adding to the Indians’ offensive outpouring.

Not only did the early runs provide a cushion for Minooka junior pitcher CJ Deckinga, but it also gave him enough leverage to go four innings into the game. He allowed four runs on three hits and four strikeouts.

Minooka (13-5, 3-0 SPC West), which has won eight of its last 10 games, scored 37 runs over the three-game series. Indians’ coach Jeff Petrovic feels that this is only a start for his team.

“It was a good series for us offensively, and we needed that because we’ve been struggling. It’s nice to see some guys bust loose,” Petrovic said. “Hitting is one of those weird things. It’s just contagious. Hopefully, now we can kind of keep that going for the rest of the season.”

In the third and fourth innings, the Wolves slowly cut into the eight-run deficit. Eight different Oswego East batters had their turns in the third inning. Senior right-fielder Will Bass was the first to hit with a single. Then senior Jackson Petsche, who had a three-hit, two-RBI game, drove in the first Wolves’ run.

Sophomore left-fielder Niko Villacci added another with his single to end the third inning trailing 8-3.

Petsche shut down the Indians’ offense in the top of the fourth with two strikeouts and, in the bottom half, drove in a run with a double.

That was all the Wolves were able to do offensively because, in the top of the fifth, Minooka scored two runs. The Indians batted through the order again, adding six runs in the sixth inning, courtesy of Pharo, Goddard, sophomore third baseman Jason Duy and junior shortstop Brayden Zilis.

For some on the Indians team, this was a revenge series, one that they remembered from a year ago. Oswego East last year swept Minooka in a three-game series.

“I remember last year, they beat us pretty handedly in the series,” Zilis said, “and it was just nice to really have that energy and the hitting tool to be really clutch and just come through this series.”

Minooka will host Lincoln-Way East High School on Saturday morning before a three-game series against Yorkville starting Monday.

As for the Wolves (5-10, 0-3) who were regional and sectional champions a season ago, they will host Naperville Central on Saturday morning before starting a three-game series against Plainfield North on Monday.