Baseball: Bryson Norwood, Oswego make most of opportunities, beat Plainfield East

OSWEGO – Bryson Norwood loves swinging at the first pitch – his “money pitch” – but patience paid off Tuesday.

He knows well the virtue of patience.

Norwood, one of six juniors in the Oswego lineup, did not play in the team’s first five games. But he has ever since, and hit ever since his name was called.

Norwood did again Tuesday, smoking a go-ahead two-run double with two out in the third inning. The Panthers went on to an 11-3 win over visiting Plainfield East, their fifth win over their last six games.

“Two outs, guy is on second, I knew our team needed runs in a tie game,” Norwood said. “I got a nice 2-0 meatball and hit it.”

Oswego (6-3-1) feasted on two-out hits.

Jacob Fehrmann, who was 2 for 2 with a walk, singled in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the first. Sophomore shortstop and leadoff hitter Kam Jenkins, who had two doubles, blooped an RBI double down the right field line in the fourth and scored on Drake Dunnett’s wicked one-hopper off the Plainfield East second baseman’s face.

Oswego’s first six runs came with two out, before blowing things open with a five-run sixth.

“The key to that is just trusting your teammates and having faith in them,” said Norwood, who had a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Danny Schuch doubled in a run for Plainfield East in the first, and Drew Janowiak had RBI base hits in the third and the fifth.

But the Bengals came up empty with a bases-loaded, none-out situation off Oswego starter Noah Mottet in the second, and left eight runners on base.

The Bengals, who dropped their third straight, struck out 10 times. Oswego reliever Nick Tickle struck out the side in the sixth and seventh innings. Schuch lasted into the fourth on the mound for Plainfield East.

“We also left a guy at third with nobody out. We’ve done that all year, and we strike out a ton,” Plainfield East coach Adam O’Reel said. “That’s been part of our issues, and we make the routine plays look hard. Danny competed but we didn’t help him out in a lot of scenarios and it eventually caught up to us.”

Norwood had a double and a walk in his first start of the season March 28, a win over Bolingbrook, and a double and three RBIs in his next start a week later against Marmion. He’s moved up from eighth to fifth in the order, and gave an indication why when he drilled Schuch’s 2-0 pitch to center to give Oswego a 4-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“I was telling myself to not help the pitcher,” Norwood said. “I’m glad that coach gave me a chance and I kept succeeding after that. I love the game. I was waiting for my moment. You only get one opportunity and I showed I was ready.”

Oswego coach Joe Giarrante isn’t surprised with what Norwood has shown in game situations.

“Just in practice we have seen him hit the ball hard and then in some intra-squad games,” Giarrante said. “The ball kind of jumps off his bat. He can hit in the gap. We’ve liked him since the beginning of the season, it’s just where do we land. He has found his spot in the lineup. He knows his role and does a good job with it.”