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No. 4 St. Charles North Takes Down St. Charles East in a Pitchers Duel

May 13, 2021
By Peter Hamot
Illinois Staff

No. 4 St. Charles North and St. Charles East squared off in a crosstown matchup on Thursday afternoon. Strong pitching from both ends limited the scoring, but St. Charles North was able to piece together a couple timely hits to lead them to victory.

St. Charles North (16-3) was able to scrape a couple runs across in the top of the second inning. Senior Marco Torres, a Wisconsin-Whitewater commit, led off the inning by reaching via an error. Senior Ethan Kobyliksni would go on to get a bunt down for a hit, placing North Star runners at first and second with no outs. A passed ball would advance both runners and set up senior Wisconsin-Whitewater commit, Alex Najera; Najera would rip a line-drive to center-field, plating both Torres and Kobylinski to make it 2-1 North Stars. 

St. Charles East (13-5-1) would start off with a bang as senior Kyle Hayes, a Kirkwood CC commit, led off the first-inning by taking a 92 mph fastball over the left-field wall to give the Fighting Saints an early 1-0 at the time. 

The No. 9 ranked 2021 in Illinois, RHP Zach Kempe, a Notre Dame commit, got the start tonight for the North Stars. Kempe would stay in the game for 5.1 innings only allowing one hit, 1 earned run and striking out 7. The right-hander featured a lively fastball that sat 90-92 mph early on, settling in at 88-90 later in the game. His breaking ball was his go-to secondary pitch this game, featuring sharp 10/4 action at 73-76 mph, throwing it both for strikes and to put hitters away. Kempe possesses some of the most electric stuff in the state and delivered a strong performance in this one.

The Fighting Saints started unsigned senior Dominic Buono, who went a strong 6 innings only allowing 3 hits, no earned runs and striking out 4. The 6-foot-3, 155-pound, left-hander featured a fastball that sat 80-82 mph. He featured sharp breaking ball with 11/5 action at 66-69 mph that he could throw in any count. 

St. Charles North would make the score 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning after a bases loaded walk to Ethan Kobylinski brought home senior Nicholas DeMarco, a Notre Dame commit, who singled earlier in the frame.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

+ Dominic Buono (St. Charles East): 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 ER, 4 strikeouts
+ Zach Kempe (St. Charles North): 5.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 ER, 7 strikeouts
+ Kyle Hayes (St. Charles East): 1-3, HR, RBI
+ Alex Najera (St. Charles North): 1-4, 2 RBIs
+ Ethan Kobylinski (St. Charles North): 1-3, RBI
+ Nicholas DeMarco (St. Charles North): 1-3, SB

For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.

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