Andrew Ronek’s complete game shutout, late offense help Oswego beat Oswego East to snap seven-game skid

OSWEGO – Andrew Ronek proudly carried around the WWE-style belt awarded to Oswego baseball’s player of the game.

That accessory needed a new home.

Sticking with the person that earned it the last time Oswego won, that belt’s been stuck in one place for over two weeks. Oswego, which started the season 16-1, carried a seven-game losing streak into Monday.

“Good to get back on track,” Ronek said. “It feels good to get this. I think this is my third time getting the belt.”

Indeed, the third time was the charm.

Ronek, a senior right-hander, tossed a six-hit complete-game shutout. Oswego broke open a scoreless game with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh for a 5-0 win over Oswego East in the first of a three-game Southwest Prairie Conference series.

It couldn’t have come at a better time for an Oswego team with high aspirations, a week before the playoffs begin.

“I’m really proud of us. This is a good win,” Ronek said. “I told them never take anyone for granted. Proud of us, this is a good win.”

Ronek was not exactly overpowering, with just one strikeout. But he was efficient, effective and let his defense help him.

Ronek navigated through seven innings on just 84 pitches, 53 for strikes, and walked just one batter.

Defensively, Conor Tully snared a hard-hit grounder to third and turned it into a double play to end the fourth inning, Quinn Stanley threw out a runner trying to steal second to end the fifth and Kam Jenkins smothered a sharply-hit grounder to shortstop with runners at second and third to end the sixth.

And Oswego (20-12, 4-9) saved its best glove work for last, throwing a runner out at home on a perfect relay, then doubling up the runner at third to end the game.

“I told these guys I was very thankful of them,” Ronek said. “Every single outing they always have my back.”

Ronek bounced around the back end of Oswego’s starting rotation and middle relief as a junior, but grew into the team’s lead conference starter role this year.

What Oswego coach Joe Giarrante saw Monday was Ronek at his best.

“We’ve been talking to him that he’s got some good stuff that can get guys out without trying to overpower and get the strikeouts,” Giarrante said. “Great day to pitch in this park, the ball usually flies out of here, but he usually has a lot of confidence on the mound.

“Something we’ve talked about with him is his pitch count gets way up and we’ve had to take him out middle of games, but today he was very efficient. We kept him in there and he kept rolling.”

Ronek needed to, the way his counterpart Carter Davis was throwing for Oswego East (14-18, 5-8).

Davis had a no-hitter for five innings, and retired nine straight batters through the second and fifth.

But Davis hit Easton Ruby to start the sixth – Davis’ third hit batter – and with one out Isaiah Logan walked.

On a full count, Oswego’s Donny Williams lined a Davis pitch to right-center for his team’s first hit, and first run.

“Borderline pitch before took for a strike, I was just trying to battle, trying to get a pitch to hit,” Williams said. “He threw me a fastball middle in and I drove it over the second baseman into right center. Just trying to do my job.”

It was the last pitch for Davis, who struck out four.

“He just kept competing,” Oswego East coach Brian Schaeffer said. “His pitch count was getting up there and usually when something like that starts to go we have seen 2-3 runs tacked on. They were able to bunt and execute and we just couldn’t stop it.”

Indeed, Oswego tacked on a second run in the sixth on a Stanley squeeze. Two more bunts in the seventh generated a third run, and Ruby followed with a two-run double off the fence in left.

“Our kids came ready to play,” Giarrante said. “It’s something we’ve lacked, we’ve been down on ourselves but we told them to keep working. What I like the most is on a tough day to hit I thought we executed some things. That stuff goes a long way in the playoffs and it’s how you want to end the season.”