Andrew cruises past Lincoln-Way West

By Drake Skleba

TINLEY PARK - Andrew struck early and often in the T-Bolts? Southwest Suburban Red opener, blasting Lincoln-Way West 9-1 on Wednesday. Sparked by the return of senior 1B Chris Gomulka, the T-Bolts (9-5; 1-0) seemed energized to have Gomulka back in the lineup. Gomulka had missed the entire season with a hamstring injury.

Gomulka struck quickly in his first at-bat of the season, leading off the T-Bolt second. Gomulka crushed a 2-0 offering from Lincoln-Way West starting pitcher senior Matt Bishop (3-1) and sent the ball sailing over the left field fence for a 1-0 Andrew lead.

?It was just awesome to hit a home run in my first at bat and have two hits in my first game,? said Gomulka. ?I was really excited about playing again after missing four weeks with a hamstring injury.?

Later in the inning, sophomore 3B Dan Durkin tripled home two more T-Bolt runs for a quick 3-0 lead.

?I struck out in the first inning and was a little down,? said Durkin, ?My teammates on the bench really picked me up and it felt great to hit the two-run triple.?

Andrew struck for four more runs in the third. T-Bolt RBIs were had by senior 2B Phil Bria (2-for-4, RBI), junior LF Justin Rzeszutko (1-for-3, R RBI) and senior C Greg Bothwell (1-for-2, SF, BB, RBI) and Durkin.

Meanwhile on the mound, T-Bolt senior RHP Ryan McCollam (1-2) scattered six hits and did not allow a run in his five-innings of work.

?This was a big win for us over a great team,? said McCollam. ?I went out and threw strikes tonight and relied on my great defense. We?re in for a battle at L-W West on Friday.?

Andrew had 13 hits in the game. The T-Bolts received more offensive support from senior CF Nick DeBenedetti and senior RF  Brian Cobb, who each went 2-for-3.
Junior SS Pat Elget chipped in with a double and a sac-fly.

?This was a great way to open conference play,? said Andrew head coach Dave DeHaan. ?We win when we have good defense and pitching. Ryan was outstanding on the mound for us and it was great to have Chris back in the lineup. He hits  a home run and gets two hits in first two at bats of the season. Danny Durkin is one of our top hitters and he?s just a sophomore who works real hard for us.?

Lincoln-Way West (7-2; 0-1) was led by senior 1B Cody Vogler, who had two hits. Senior LF Dan Fifer was on base three times for the Warriors with a single, a walk and a HBP. Senior 3B Mike Lagger singled home the only Warrior run in the seventh.

The two clubs will meet Thursday or Friday as scheduled, at West. The coaches were considering moving the game to Thursday due to Friday?s inclement weather forecast. The aces of the respective clubs are scheduled to pitch; Cody Vogler for West and Dan Truesdale for Andrew.