Whether it’s been injuries, lousy weather or occasionally a lack of offense, the Riverside-Brookfield baseball team has endured its share of adversity this spring. With the playoffs only a week away, the surging Bulldogs finally appear “all systems go” for their postseason trip as evidenced by winning five of six games last week.
Riverside-Brookfield (20-9-1, 10-5 Metro Suburban Conference) split a doubleheader with Argo, rolled past Proviso East, and took three games from Metro Suburban Conference opponent Timothy Christian during a busy, productive week.
“I’m happy with the momentum we have started to build leading up to the state tournament,” RB coach Dallas Till said. “I am real proud of our club and the progress they have made together.”
The Bulldogs celebrated Senior Day on Saturday with a 6-2 victory over Argo in Game 2 of a twinbill. Adam Kuta, who normally works out of the RB bullpen, earned an impressive complete-game win by allowing two earned runs and striking out seven. Vito DeRango had a double and stolen base to lead RB offensively.
The Argonauts edged RB 1-0 in the opener which snapped the Bulldogs’ seven-game win streak. Riverside-Brookfield starter JT Evans tossed a two-hitter, while fanning seven.
“It was disheartening to suffer a loss in which JT allowed only two singles,” Till said. “Our guys battled but we just couldn’t get the offense going in Game 1.”
On Friday, RB starter Ryan Brown turned in a scintillating performance during the Bulldogs’ 14-4 win (six innings) against Proviso East. While he allowed three runs over six innings, Brown also recorded a whopping 17 strikeouts. Charlie Morrissey went 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run, double and two RBIs and CJ Duffek added three hits.
The most significant wins for RB came at the expense of Timothy Christian. The Bulldogs routed the Trojans 14-4 in five innings on Thursday as David Tortorici gave up five hits and struck out five to pick up the win. DeRango had a huge game at the plate with two homers and seven RBIs, including a walk-off grand slam. Tyler Radek finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Riverside-Brookfield also downed Timothy Christian 9-2 last week.
The Bulldogs visit Ridgewood for Thursday’s regular season finale.
