The Sycamore Spartans will challenge the St. Charles North North Stars at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The last four games Sycamore has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Sycamore blew Harlem out of the water the last time the pair played, but on Tuesday Harlem got their revenge. The Spartans fell just short of the Huskies by a score of 5-3.
Devin Shaulis
| 03/28/25 @ Hononegah | 3 |
| 04/08/25 vs Harlem | 1 |
Sycamore got a good showing from Devin Shaulis, who didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. Shaulis is becoming a predictor of the Spartans' success: when he allows at most three hits the team is 2-1 (and 1-3 when he doesn't).
At the plate, Sycamore saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jackson Macdonald, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. Trenton Meisch also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for St. Charles North, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They walked away with a 9-4 win over South Elgin on Wednesday.
Keaton Reinke made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off one hit. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in four consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 1.2 stolen bases per game.
In other pitching news, Reed Raczka looked comfortable as he tossed 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Henry Grimm, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Another player making a difference was Ben Auer, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2.
St. Charles North pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Sycamore, they now have a losing record of 3-4.
