Baseball: Caden Krystofiak K’s 13 in dominant outing, Glenbard East holds off late Bartlett comeback

BARTLETT – Lesson learned.

Cruising to a 7-1 lead after six innings, Glenbard East appeared headed to its sixth Upstate Eight Conference victory in seven games against host Bartlett on Thursday afternoon.

The Hawks (5-8, 4-4) had other ideas, chasing Rams starting pitcher Caden Krystofiak with a leadoff double from Brendan Campbell, a one-out single by Robby Stankus and Tyler Henricks’ RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to make it 7-2.

After Pat Nelson’s sacrifice fly, an RBI single by Daniel Krulak and Josh Schuberth’s two-run double, the Hawks trimmed the deficit to 7-6.

However, Rams coach Clayton George summoned reliever Joe Wolsztyniak to the mound and the right-hander recorded a strikeout to pick up the save in the Rams’ 7-6 triumph.

“Joe [Wolsztyniak] came in and shut it down for us,” said George, whose team improved to 7-6 overall, 6-1 in Upstate Eight play.

“We brought a guy in [Cody Reilly], and I thought he did OK,” George said. “It was a good pressure situation for a couple kids to come in and see how they handle it.”

Krystofiak, a senior right-hander, dominated the Hawks throughout the first six innings, allowing just an unearned run on two hits with two walks and 13 strikeouts.

“Caden has been throwing the ball very well,” George said. “I think he has 40 strikeouts in three conference games now. We can’t ask for more out of him.”

Krystofiak reached his 105-pitch [IHSA] limit in the seventh with the Rams ahead 7-2.

“Caden ran out of bullets. He got to his pitch count,” George said. “I wish we could’ve gotten the last couple guys out when he was pitching to the bottom of their order. You’ve got to really focus in and get those bottom outs.”

The hard-throwing Krystofiak struck out the side in the first two innings and racked up 11 punchouts through the first five frames.

“I was throwing my fastball, slider and cutter,” Krystofiak said. “I’ve got to get the changeup to start working but that’s about it.”

George is happy to have Krystofiak back after a pair of knee surgeries – the latter of which cost him most of his junior season.

“I had a MPFL [medial patellofemoral ligament] reconstruction and then I had the same thing done last year around this time,” Krystofiak said. “The first time it happened stepping on first base and the second time it happened in the bullpen.”

“We missed him tremendously last year,” George said. “He rehabbed his butt off to get back here.”

Eddie Vercruysse led the Rams’ nine-hit attack, going 3-for-3 with a triple and RBI, while also making a shoestring catch in right field in the sixth inning.

“He has been a very consistent guy for us,” George said. “He’s one of our senior leaders and he’s a gamer.”

Brett Vercruysse drove in a pair of runs, while Jayden Hamilton went 1-for-3 with an RBI triple and two runs scored for the Rams.

Schuberth led the Hawks with a 2-for-4 day at the plate with three RBI.

“We’re down three starters right now. We’ve got a lot of guys out sick,” Hawks coach Christopher Baum said. “They battled against a real tough pitcher.

“This is the one thing we’re trying to instill in the program [that] it’s not over until the final out. We showed that today. I’m proud of the guys for the fight.”

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