Baseball: Josh Caccia, St. Charles North cruise to DuKane Conference win over Lake Park

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles North’s school career strikeout record holder proved he doesn’t always need a strikeout to prevail.

Senior right-hander Josh Caccia limited a potent Lake Park team to only six hits over 6 2/3 innings without issuing a walk during the North Stars’ 10-1 victory May 8 in St. Charles.

Caccia recorded one strikeout during an impressive outing in which he almost went the distance.

“He’s a great competitor,” North Stars coach Todd Genke said. “When he’s on the mound, we feel very confident. He just comes right at you. I know he has done a lot of great things but that was one of his better performances. He makes teams beat him.”

St. Charles North (21-3-1, 14-1) posted its 15th consecutive victory and inched closer to clinching the DuKane Conference crown.

Caccia was staked to an early 1-0 lead as the North Stars capitalized on a pair of first-inning errors by the Lancers.

In the second inning, Jaden Harmon was hit by a pitch and Jack Spotts lined a single to right to put runners on the corners before a passed ball allowed Harmon to score and make it 2-0.

After the Lancers (20-6, 11-5) scored an unearned run in the fourth on Jayden Patel’s RBI infield single, the North Stars answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Lake Park southpaw Dylan Bergman almost escaped a bases-loaded, nobody out situation but Jackson Spring hit an RBI single to left to make it 3-1.

Facing a reliever, senior catcher Mike Buono lined a 1-and-1 offering to left-center, driving in Jake Kujak and Spring to give the North Stars a 5-1 lead.

“The seniors stepped up,” Genke said. “Jackson Spring had a big knock and then Buono right behind him. That’s why they hit 1-2 in our order.”

The dugouts emptied briefly in the top of the sixth after Caccia’s pickoff throw to third caught Lake Park’s runner off guard and ended with a home-plate collision.

“I don’t think there was any intent behind it, but in high school ball you have to avoid a tag,” Genke said.

The North Stars put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth that featured an RBI single from Buono and a two-run single by Colin Ryder.

“It was a great win for our program,” Genke said. “We have a lot of confidence in the dugout right now. Fifteen wins in a row, it’s hard to do. I don’t care what level you’re playing at.”

Caccia retired the first two hitters in the seventh and was 0-and-2 on pinch-hitter Tommy Menchaca before a foul ball extended the North Stars’ ace to the 105-pitch limit requiring Genke to bring in reliever Liam Ruane for the final out.

“I’d rather get 21 outs than strike out 10 and let up five runs,” Caccia said. “I knew they were a swinging team so I tried to keep the ball low in the zone and let my fielders do the rest of the work for me.”

“He didn’t have his big strikeout day, but this just shows he has it all,” Buono said of Caccia.

Patel went 2 for 3 for the Lancers, who committed five errors.

“If we play our best, we can play with anybody,” Lake Park coach Dan Colucci said. “We didn’t do that today.”