Schaumburg, Ill. - Elmhurst mounted multiple late-inning rallies but ultimately came up short, falling 11–10 to Dominican (Ill.) on Thursday evening at Wintrust Field. The Bluejays erased a five-run deficit in the sixth inning and came within one run in the eighth, but Dominican held on behind a strong bullpen effort and a key insurance run in the seventh.
Elmhurst took an early 1–0 lead in the first inning when Brett Vercruysse scored on a double to left by Rock Smith. Dominican responded in the third with two runs, taking advantage of an error to tie the game before G. Zappe singled home the go-ahead run.
The Stars added four more runs in the fourth, again capitalizing on free passes and defensive miscues. M. Earley drew a bases-loaded walk, N. Krecu singled in another, and both Z. Helein and M. Earley came around to score on a groundout and sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 6–1.
Elmhurst stormed back in the sixth with five unearned runs. Vercruysse walked with the bases loaded to bring in one, followed by a two-run single from Tommy Wichgers. Vercruysse later scored on a throwing error, and Wichgers came around on an error by the third baseman, tying the game at 6–6.
Dominican answered immediately in the bottom of the inning, plating four more runs. A pair of Elmhurst errors led to two runs, and a double from C. Kalekas scored two more, giving Dominican a 10–6 lead.
Elmhurst continued to chip away, scoring three in the seventh. A wild pitch brought in one run, A. Nieves grounded out to score another, and Vercruysse doubled in a third to make it 10–9. Dominican responded again in the bottom half with an RBI single from R. Schmidt, scoring Z. Helein to push the lead to 11–9.
In the eighth, Erik Malott came through with a two-run double to bring Elmhurst within a run, but Dominican reliever R. Chiarito shut the door in the ninth for his first save of the season.
Brett Vercruysse led Elmhurst at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks. Malott drove in two and reached base three times, while Wichgers added two RBIs and a run scored. Elmhurst finished with eight hits and drew nine walks but committed three errors and left 11 runners on base.
Dominican's offense was led by Z. Helein, who scored four times despite only recording two official at-bats. C. Kalekas drove in two with his lone hit, and G. Zappe added two RBIs.
C. Myczek earned the win for Dominican, improving to 2–0 after throwing four innings of one-run ball. Christopher Ludwig took the loss for Elmhurst, while R. Chiarito recorded the save. Elmhurst fell to 9–25 on the season with the loss, while Dominican improved to 15–18.
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