OGLESBY – For the second game of the series, the Sycamore baseball team’s pitching dominated. The Spartans struck out 17 batters in a 5-0 victory over La Salle-Peru in an Interstate 8 Conference game Tuesday.

The Spartans struck in the top of the first inning. Kiefer Tarnoki popped straight up but reached base as heavy winds wreaked havoc on the ball and the Cavaliers’ defense.

Tarnoki eventually reached third base on a fielder’s choice and a wild pitch before Tommy Townsend sent a rocket down the first base line for an RBI double that scored Tarnoki to put Sycamore up 1-0.

Two batters later, Hunter Britz put down a bunt single that scored Townsend to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead after a half-inning.

Jack Scheri led off the bottom half of the inning with a single to center, and Aidan Van Duzer walked, but Griffin Hallahan slammed the door shut and ended the inning with a strikeout.

The Spartans started the second off just as they did the first with an infield single, this time from Ethan Storm, who got in scoring position as he stole second base.

Sycamore turned to small ball once again as Ethan Steele put down an RBI bunt that scored Storm and pushed the lead to 3-0.

“We did some nice things at the plate tonight,” Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh said. “We put down some beautiful bunts and got guys over and scored off the bunt as well.”

From there it was all Hallahan, who mowed down batter after batter, striking out five in a row and six of the next seven.

Julius Sanchez picked up a check-swing single over the second baseman for the Cavs’ second hit of the game in the fourth, but three more strikeouts ended the inning.

In the top of the fifth inning, the wind again wreaked havoc, which led to an RBI double from Townsend to deep left-center field that scored Tarnoki and pushed the Sycamore lead to 4-0.

L-P’s woes at the plate continued with five more strikeouts over the next two innings.

“Sycamore did a lot of nice things tonight,” L-P coach Matt Glupczynski said. “They played a lot of nice small ball, got some big hits from Townsend and then just like the first game of the series, their pitchers dominated us, but I would love to see this team again down the line and see what we can do.”

Sycamore added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, thanks in part to a pair of errors and a sacrifice fly by Townsend.

Hallahan finished with 15 strikeouts for the Spartans (6-1, 4-0 I-8), while Townsend led the offense with two hits and three RBIs.

“I thought Griffin looked like a college pitcher on the mound tonight,” Cavanaugh said. “The way the ball was coming out and the velocity, it wasn’t a high school pitcher anymore. Townsend I think has three homers and two doubles if not for the wind tonight.”

Scheri and Sanchez each had a single for the Cavs (7-6, 3-2), and Joey Story took the loss on the mound.