Baseball: George Thomos, Glenbard South win pitchers’ duel at Bartlett

BARTLETT – With a stiff breeze blowing straight out to right field, Friday wasn’t shaping up as a good day for pitchers at Bartlett.

But the Hawks’ Brendan Campbell and Glenbard South’s George Thomos evidently didn’t get the message.

Instead, the two locked up in a classic pitchers’ duel, with Thomos and the Raiders prevailing 2-1 on a pair of unearned runs in the fourth inning.

The Hawks made it 1-0 in the first after Colin Swalley was hit by a pitch. Dan Krulak hit into a force play, then stole second and scored on Mario Prieto’s slow roller up the middle.

It looked like Campbell might make it hold up. Despite giving up three hits — none hard-hit — he delivered three scoreless innings before running into trouble.

After two quick outs in the fourth, Nathan Zambori slugged a triple to deep center field. Andrew Pressly was hit by pitch and both runners scored when Ness Damania reached on an error, putting Glenbard South (12-6 overall, 7-1 Upstate Eight) ahead to stay.

That was it for the offense.

“Mental toughness is something we worked on over the offseason,” Thomos said. “Consistency as well. I really throw two pitches — fastball, slider — so you kind of at a point know what’s coming. So it’s just a matter of mixing up signs, varying holds, and trying to stop the big inning. Getting a lot of balls on the ground.

“I’ve got the team behind me, that was big. Joey DeMeo behind the plate, that was huge. I’ve also got confidence in the infield. It’s easy when you’ve got a good outfield, a great infield, and an amazing catcher behind the plate. It makes my job a lot easier.”

Campbell matched him pitch for pitch.

“He threw well, and that’s exactly who Brendan Campbell is,” Bartlett coach Christopher Baum said. “He’s a junior right now, and he’s going to be even better next year. He moved it in and out and threw his off-speed (pitches) really well.”

Bartlett (8-10, 7-2) had just six baserunners after the first. The Hawks’ best chance came in the third when Josh Colaizzi singled with one out and stole second. He moved up on a wild pitch that was ball four to Krulak. But the Hawks couldn’t execute a double steal.

“Both pitchers did a nice job of keeping the hitters off balance,” Glenbard South coach Marco Eufrasio said. “We were lucky enough today that we did just enough and took advantage of what they gave us.”

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