St. Charles East scores early, tops Wheaton-Warrenville South 7-1

St. Charles East built its lead in the first two innings and never let Wheaton-Warrenville South back into the game, rolling to a 7-1 win Wednesday in a contest played at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School because of field conditions, with the Saints serving as the home team.

The decisive stretch came immediately. The Saints scored three runs in the bottom of the first, then added two more in the second to take firm control. Kyle LaRose started the opening inning by drawing a walk, and Dylan McCabe followed with a double. Gavin Fuscone then delivered the first run with an RBI single. Nate Moline added an RBI groundout, and Fuscone later scored on a wild pitch as St. Charles East moved in front 3-0.

The Saints kept the pressure on in the second. Tyler Phillips opened the inning with a single, Chris Dazzo drew a walk and Sean Groselak bunted both runners into scoring position. LaRose brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, and McCabe followed with an RBI single to extend the advantage to 5-0. Wheaton-Warrenville South got on the board in the top of the third on a two-out RBI double, but St. Charles East limited the damage to one run.

Any thought of a comeback ended in the bottom of the fourth. Groselak reached with a two-out hit, stole second and came home on LaRose's RBI double. Two batters later, James Feigleson singled to left to score LaRose and push the margin to 7-1. Dazzo, Groselak, Fuscone and McCabe each stole a base as the Saints paired timely hitting with aggressive baserunning.

McCabe finished 2-for-3 with a double, one run scored, one walk and two RBIs. Fuscone also went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run, while Phillips was 2-for-3 with a run scored. LaRose contributed a double, two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk in a 1-for-3 day at the plate.

Andrew Evans gave St. Charles East a steady start, working 4.2 innings to earn his fourth win of the season. He allowed three hits and one earned run, walked two and struck out two. LaRose closed it out with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing two hits, issuing no walks and striking out one as the Saints finished off the 7-1 victory.