Oswego Cats split with Romeoville

In their last busy weekend of the regular season, the Oswego Cats split a doubleheader with the Romeoville Royals, winning the opener 8-3 and losing the nightcap 3-1, in Chicago Suburban Baseball League competition on Saturday afternoon at Jackie's Field of Dreams.

Oswego (14-13, 13-10) has had an inconsistent month leading up to the postseason, posting a 5-7 record in July and alternating wins and losses in the last six games. The team may have only taken one of two games in its latest outing, but it has three more games to straighten things out, including a doubleheader versus non-league opponent Team Acceleration on Sunday and the season finale against Addison on Tuesday night.

In Saturday's Game 1 victory, the visiting side struck first, picking up two quick runs in the first on a pair of RBI-doubles off of right-hander Cody Love. As for the Cats, they were kept off the board until the third, when first baseman Ryan O'Dell drew a bases-loaded walk.

Love settled down after a rough first, giving up just one hit over the next two innings. In the fourth, however, the Royals put together a two-out rally that scored center fielder Luke Wians, who had reached on a single, to make it 3-1.

But the Cats had their own two-out surge in the bottom of the frame, as consecutive hits by right fielder Bobby Smith (single) and catcher Chris Hill (single) eventually equaled two runs that came around to score on center fielder Clay Schuler's double to the right-field wall.

Those were just a few of the Cats' 15 hits in the first game, and there likely could have been more, particularly from Smith, who only recorded one hit in nine combined at-bats for the day. His efforts at the plate, though, were not lost on Cats field manager Todd Miller.

"He was on everything, he's put the ball in play and I'll take hard outs like that any day over watching his number walking back to the bench," he said.

With the game tied at 3, Love went back to work on the mound, throwing two more strong innings and pitching his way out of a few jams along the way. Love gave up nine hits and two walks, while striking out two in six innings of work. To support his efforts, Oswego added another two runs in the fifth, as second baseman Adam Lipscomb and left fielder Bailey Watros hit back-to-back RBI-singles.

In the sixth, third baseman Jose Camacho brought first baseman Kevin Loukota around on a long double, and Lipscomb and Watros again combined for consecutive run-scoring singles to put the home team ahead 8-3. Holding a substantial lead, the Cats sent Loukota out in the seventh, and he made quick work of the last three batters to preserve the victory.

For Game 2, Romeoville started things off in a similar scoring fashion, taking an early 1-0 lead off of right-hander Kelse Gengler, who was able to shut the opposition down over the next three innings, despite allowing five more hits in that stretch.

Gengler, though, ran into trouble again in the fifth, when two early singles eventually came around to score on consecutive at-bats to make it a 3-0 game. It would be his last inning of work before giving way to left-hander Andy Grunewald, who was stellar in relief, with just two hits allowed and two strikeouts called in the final two frames.

"We played pretty well," Miller said. "They got some bleeder hits. Kelse struggled with finding his location, and he admitted it. He couldn't hit his spots, but you know, he gave us five innings, and all three runs could've easily been outs in some of those (situations). We were a tough-luck loser there, but we'll win a lot of games only giving up three runs."

As for Oswego, it was unable to get its offense going against right-hander Andrew Bergmann, who was solid in his four innings of work. Right-hander Dalton Hottle came on in the bottom of the fifth, and while the home side was able to record five hits off of him in the last three innings, they were only able to push one across on Camacho on Lipscomb's double in the seventh, eventually making the 3-1 score final.

Lipscomb went a combined 6-for-7 with three RBIs on the afternoon, and while the Cats didn't come out with the win in game two, there were definite positives from Miller's perspective.

"It was fun to watch," Miller said. "We lost the second one, but you know what? We didn't give up. We were right there in the bottom of the seventh, and one hit and we're there. If either (catcher Mike Cherven) singles or Bobby singles there, it's 3-3, but we didn't die.

"(Romeoville) is a good team, with about the same record as us in the other division. This is their last game, so as far as we know it, the Royals are done, which is unfortunate because they're a good team, and they're fun to play."

Oswego will not see Romeoville in the postseason, but it will see familiar foes Addison and Westmont in the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) Regional Tournament that starts Thursday at Jackie's Field of Dreams. The bracket has been reduced to three teams, with the loss of teams from Muskegon (Mich.) and Spooner (Wis.).

Westmont and Addison will play the double-elimination tournament's first game on Thursday, with the loser facing host Oswego on Friday. The other team will play the Cats on Saturday, and Miller expects a weekend of solid competition, as a bid to the Stan Musial World Series at Farmingdale State University (N.Y.) is on the line.

"Any of these teams could win," he said. "We haven't seen either of Addison's top two guys yet as far as their pitchers are concerned. We'll have our work cut out for us, and we have to hit.

"We've got a good mix of guys, but now we have to come together as a team. I mean, here it is. This is ours for the taking; it's being handed to us, and we have to take it. We have to absolutely take it."

Notes: Prior to Saturday's doubleheader, Oswego split a twinbill at Crystal Lake last Sunday afternoon, losing 5-1 and winning 12-3, and dropped a non-conference contest versus Chicago-based La Barca 4-0 on Thursday night. Game 2 was decidedly different, with Oswego talking charge with an eight-run first inning.