Baseball: Shepard bangs out 20 hits, slams Richards

Shepard coach Frank DiFoggio was concerned how his team would perform Tuesday after not playing for five days.

The Astros quickly dispelled those concerns.

Shepard scored four runs in the first inning and 11 in the second en route to a 20-8 five-inning victory over host Richards in a South Suburban Red slugfest.

The Astros sent 26 batters to the plate in the first two innings. Every regular recorded at least one hit for Shepard (12-12, 9-6), which pounded out 20 base knocks on the day.

The Astros’ 3-4-5 hitters — Adam Samad, Ramsey Hamdan and Matt Scott — were a combined 10-for-12 with nine runs and 11 RBI.

Scott led the charge, going 4-for-5 with six RBI, including a two-run homer. Hamdan was 3-for-3 with two walks and three RBI and Samad 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Matt Hoge (2-for-5, two RBI), Paul Gregory (2-for-4, RBI), Christian Araiza (2-for-4, RBI) and Mark Albrecht (2-for-4) produced multi-hit days for the Astros.

“We are such a hot and cold team,” DiFoggio said. “When we’re going good, the whole things goes good. When we’re going bad, we’re bad. When we play like this, I feel we can play with anybody.”

The beneficiary of the offensive explosion was pitcher Jeremy Dryier. The junior right-hander struggled early on, giving up seven runs the first two innings. But he finished strong, allowing only one run over his final two innings and striking out the side in the third and fourth innings.

“I’m proud of Dryier,” DiFoggio said. “He didn’t have his best stuff early. But he’s one of the toughest kids we have. He hung in there and got the win.”

Richards (15-11, 10-3) registered 12 hits on the afternoon, but received no help from its pitching staff.

Ricky Palacios (3-for-4, RBI), Eric Hall (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Tyler Sheehan (2-for-3, RBI) led the Bulldogs. Vince Boettger and Charlie Zeschke drove in runs.

“When a team bangs out 20 hits, they deserve to win,” said Richards coach Brian Wujcik, who was denied his 400th career victory. “They hit everything we threw at them.”

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