News

Fortune favored the DuPage pitchers Tuesday night in Sugar Grove, as Bob Kametas and company forced the Chicago Zephyrs to leave 11 men on base in a 5-2 Hounds victory at Waubonsee Community College.

Kametas earned a win in his first start of the season, allowing a run on five hits in 5.2 innings, walking one, hitting two, and striking out three. Christian Bokich allowed a run in 2.1 relief innings, while Nick Martin earned the save after a scoreless 9^th inning.

The Zephyrs had runners on base in seven of nine innings, striking first blood in the 1^st inning on a Bobby Smith double and Greg Sidor RBI single. With one out and runners on second and third, Kametas induced a Drew Bailey fly out to right. Sidor tried to score, but Alex Cain unleashed his cannon arm and threw the runner out at the plate, ending the early threat.

Cain followed up his glove work with a triple in the top of the 2^nd, coming home on Drew Sterioti’s RBI groundout. DuPage would take the lead in the 3^rd when Stewart Nelson scored on a Trent Carrier groundout.

The leadoff hitter Nelson finished the day 2-3 with two walks, two runs, a stolen base, and a run-scoring double in the top of 8^th. He showed off his glove in the bottom of the 8^th with a diving catch on a Sidor line drive and a similar effort on Sam Klein’s liner.

Brian Lees contributed a triple and an RBI for the Hounds (4-0), and Clayton Johannes scored in the 8^th on a stolen base and catcher’s throwing error. After slashing only singles over the past two games, DuPage’s bats combined for three extra-base hits at Waubonsee.

Kametas was the beneficiary of two double plays during his time on the mound. Jake Chavez grounded into the 4-6-3 twin-killer in the 4^th, while DuPage first baseman Adam Cain snagged Sidor’s weak line drive and lowered his glove to touch the bag and double off Smith in the 6^th.

The Zephyrs (0-4) got a run back off Bokich in the 7^th. Chavez singled, went to second on an error, got to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Mitchel Ruh’s single. Bokich got through the inning when Smith flew out to center with two on. He then earned his revenge on Ruh in the 8^th, striking the Zephyr out with the bases loaded to end the frame.

After the eighth and ninth batters got on in the bottom of the 9^th, Nick Martin retired the Zephyrs’ top three hitters to secure the victory, forcing Klein to fly out to Emerson Misch in center field to put it in the books.

The undefeated Hounds’ road trip continues tomorrow afternoon in Joliet against the Admirals. First pitch is at 5:00.