The Warriors opened its first tournament in impressive fashion--scoring 20 runs in five innings to beat Oak Lawn by the slaughter rule on Saturday morning.
Matthias Dietz pitched three strong innings for the Warriors. He allowed just two runs to score in the top of the third on a pop up that fell between three Warriors in short rightfield. His pitch count mounted quickly in the third inning. He was done for the afternoon after the third inning with 90 pitches thrown for the game.
The Warriors held a 10-2 lead as the game moved into the top of the fourth inning. Ryan Novak pitched in relief for the Warriors. He threw a good percentage of strikes, but the infield defense broke down behind him. Eventually, Oak Lawn chipped away with five runs to come within three runs of tying the game (10-7). The Warriors then went to Mike Rafferty for a different look from the mound.
Nearly every player contributed to the team's offensive explosion. Mike Rafferty led the team with 8 RBI. His first 3 RBI resulted from his towering 2 out, 2 strike homerun over the leftfield wall. He later doubled in 3 runs and singled in a couple of more! Mike entered the game in relief and pitched the last two innings to close the game. Oak Lawn recognized Mike with the MVP medallion for this game.
The Warriors' baserunning was exceptional. The runners put a lot of pressure on the Oak Lawn defense.
The Warriors look forward to Monday night's game against Archer Manor.
2011 Chicagoland Tournament Champions & 2011 Lombard Tournament Champions!
