Baseball: York clinches first West Suburban Silver title since 1993

Updated: May 15, 2012 7:51PM

It was a celebration that came after a nearly 20-year drought. The York players piled on each other after the final out and then later gave coach Dave Kalal a water bath.

York won its first West Suburban Silver championship since 1993 with a 7-1 win over host Lyons on Tuesday afternoon. River Pitlock pitched a gem to capture the victory.

‘‘It’s always been Oak Park (-River Forest) and (Lyons) battling for the title,’’ Pitlock said. ‘‘The last couple of years, we’ve been right there. It’s about time that we won it.’’

The junior right-hander was given run-support early and he pitched well with the lead. The Dukes (20-11, 14-4) put four runs on the board in the second inning putting the Lions (20-10-1, 13-5) in an early hole that it could not dig out of.

York pounded out four hits in the inning including a base-hit RBI from Jake Rzeszutko and a double from Pitlock that pushed two more across the plate. Added to that were three errors by the Lions in that inning. Rzeszutko went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two stolen bases.

‘‘We usually hit in the gym on the mornings of Tuesday and Wednesday,’’ Pitlock said. ‘‘The gym was setup for graduation so we went down the street to hit at the cages and our bats came alive.’’

Pitlock (4-0) was relying on his splitter and fastball and making sure he owned the inside of the plate. He allowed only two hits but struck out only two as he made the Lions put the ball in play.

‘‘He really like big games,’’ York coach Dave Kalal said of Pitlock. ‘‘The whole team was outstanding behind him defensively.’’

Matt DiFrancesca stood out at third base. He had five assists and two put-outs. Josh Paparone went 3-for-4 with an RBI while batting clean-up for the Dukes.

Blake Murray drove in Lyons’ only run with a sacrifice-fly to right field that brought home Matt Robare.

‘‘This is just a stepping stone for us,’’ Kalal said. ‘‘These guys were tired of not getting recognition. They love to compete.’’

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