Baseball: Max Vaisvila strikes out career-high 13, pitches Willowbrook past Downers Grove South

DOWNERS GROVE – Max Vaisvila shrugged off the unexpected bit of good fortune early in Tuesday’s road game.

The Willowbrook senior pitcher experienced a rare feat against Downers Grove South.

In the top of the first inning, Vaisvila strolled to the plate with two runners on base and two outs.

The Loras College recruit hit a high popup to shortstop, which looked to put an end to the scoring threat. But Vaisvila and the Warriors were gifted two runs when the ball was dropped for an error.

From that point, Vaisvila handled the rest of the work from the mound, striking out a career-high 13 batters in six innings in a 5-1 victory in West Suburban Gold play.

“That rarely happens,” Vaisvila said. “But I knew I was ready to go when I stepped on the mound, but after that [error] happened, I knew I was going to attack the hitters because I had a lead and I didn’t have to worry about anything. I was ready to go.”

The left-hander worked his magic against the young Mustangs (0-3, 0-1), scattering three hits, walking two and hitting a batter in a masterful performance. Vaisvila gave up his lone run in the fifth, when the Mustangs benefitted from a one-out walk, a perfectly placed bunt single and a slow roller single to third that died on the infield grass to set up a bases-loaded situation. Vaisvila (3-0) lost his shutout when he hit Downer Grove South’s Jalen House in the back.

“I had everything working for me,” Vaisvila said. “My slider was working, the curve was working and the fastball was there. It felt great.”

Willowbrook coach Vic Wisner said Vaisvila is pitching at a high level early in the season.

“He’s throwing the ball really, really well,” Wisner said. “He works incredibly harder, especially in the offseason. He puts in a lot of time in the weight room and throws freely. He looks so much different this year and it’s all because of all the hard work he put in. He’s a weight room guy, so he puts in the work and it’s awesome to see him get rewarded.”

Besides the fifth inning, the Mustangs weren’t able to generate much offense against Vaisvila, but the final score wasn’t a true indicator of the closeness of the game, Downers Grove South coach Darren Orel said. The Mustangs had four pitchers combine for 12 strikeouts.

“[Max] had a great day, and he had a great day against us last year, too,” Orel said. “We knew we were going to have our hands full with him. He was tough on the mound. They shouldn’t have scored the first two runs, but they won the game on the mound today.

“That kid is tough. They got a couple of two-out hits. We’re still learning. We have some seniors in the lineup, but we’re young. This is a group that will get better over the course of the year.”

Vaisvila could be one of the keys in the Warriors’ quest to top last season’s 13-10 record. After a forearm injury caused him to miss the second half of last season, Vaisvila is healthy and stronger this spring. He gained nearly 15 pounds and added a new pitch.

“I had a forearm strain last year and didn’t get healthy until the end of the summer,” Vaisvila said. “I took advantage of that to get stronger and now feel great. I started working on a slider and even got more pitches. Today was probably the best I’ve felt in all of high school, so I’m excited.”

Willowbrook senior second baseman Bennett Fleming had two hits in the win, driving in two runs with a deep single that stopped in the outfield mud in the third inning to pad the lead to 4-0. Brendan DeMay and Jacob Kutella also had two hits each for the Warriors (4-1).

“I was just trying to do my job and had a good day,” Fleming said. “I was trying to be on time since they have some guys that throw hard, so I tried to make sure I got the foot down. I’m trying to get more comfortable every day. Max had a great game, and I think we can go pretty far this year.”