Baseball: Minooka’s Sully Minor a major masher in 5-0 win over Morris

MINOOKA – Leading off the bottom of the second inning Tuesday, Minooka’s Sully Minor was ready for a fastball.

He got one and put the sweet spot of his bat on it. The ball rose toward right-center field, hitched a ride on the jet stream blowing that direction and soared over the fence for a home run, giving Minooka all the runs it needed in a 5-0 win over Morris.

Minor was a force for the Indians all day, as he finished 3 for 3 with a home run, a double and three RBIs. He was in the hole when the last out was made in the bottom of the sixth, so he didn’t have a chance to try to hit for the cycle by hitting a triple.

“On the home run, I was just looking for a fastball and trying to load early,” Minor said. “I wanted to put a good swing on it and do some damage.

“It was good to see our offense do better today. And it’s nice to know that when Ryan Anderson is pitching we don’t have to score a lot. We know he’s going to shut the other team down.”

That is exactly what Anderson, a University of Arizona commit, did. In his five innings, Anderson struck out eight, allowed three hits and did not walk a batter. Reliever Anthony Rizo finished the game with two perfect innings, while striking out four.

“That’s what happens when you don’t walk anyone,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “When you strike out 12 and don’t walk anyone, you are going to play pretty well. The pace of the game was good, and Ryan and Anthony threw the ball very well.

“It was great to see Sully have a big game. Sometimes, he gets in his own head, but he’s a talented player. We brought him up when he was a sophomore and he played half of that year for us. The nature of high school baseball is that it’s a roller-coaster. You are going to have ups and downs. This game should give Sully some confidence.”

Minor’s homer came on the first pitch of the second inning. After that, Morris starter Keegan Waters struck out the next three Minooka hitters on nine pitches.

I wanted to put a good swing on it and do some damage.”

—  Sully Minor, Minooka baseball

Minooka (2-0-1) took advantage of some Morris miscues in the third inning and scored three runs. Joe Wunar led off the inning by reaching on a dropped third strike. Noah Munson then bunted, but the throw went wide of first and put runners on second and third. A walk to Dylan Cecada loaded the bases before Nate George singled in two runs. On a Carson Johnson grounder to third, Cecala was thrown out at home. Minor followed with a single to right to score George. A bunt by Andrew Forillo was quickly grabbed by Morris catcher Griffin Zweeres, and he ran back to the plate to tag out Johnson. Minor was then thrown out trying to take third on a pitch in the dirt.

“It was nice to see our offense come alive and put up a crooked number,” Petrovic said. “I don’t mind getting thrown out on the bases if they are aggressive outs. Two of them were in that inning, and I am OK with those.”

Meanwhile, Morris (0-1) couldn’t get much going offensively. The offense consisted of an infield single by Zweeres in the second, a single by Caston Norris in the third and a single to left by Cody Del Favero in the fifth.

“I understand that is was our first game, and I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of offense given the conditions,” Morris coach Todd Kein said. “But we looked like an inexperienced team at the plate. We aren’t always going to have great offensive days, but I need to see the kids competing at the plate and having a good approach. I didn’t see a lot of that today.

“I thought our pitchers [Waters and Del Favero] threw the ball well. They made a couple mistakes and Minooka made them pay for them. We have to have a short memory and get right back at it.”