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Freshman third baseman Comia debuts with 3 RBIs as Sandburg rolls past Richards
Sandburg’s Jayden Comia didn’t want to complicate the situation in the second inning Friday afternoon.
In his first high school at-bat, the freshman third baseman stepped up to the plate with a runner on third base of a scoreless game.
If that wasn’t enough pressure, there was the shadow of his brother Branden, a freshman infielder at Illinois who produced a star-studded career in four varsity seasons with the Eagles.
Jayden Comia, however, looked the part of a veteran. He launched an RBI triple and later added a two-run single to send Sandburg to a 12-4 victory over Richards at Joliet Route 66 Stadium.
“I feel a lot of pressure,” Comia said. “I’m trying to make a name for myself. My brother, my dad and my mom have told me to be myself. I was trying to keep it simple that first at-bat. See the ball, hit the ball.”
Sandburg (1-0) piled up 14 hits. BrianAdams finished 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and two stolen bases. Tommy Windt also had three hits and an RBI.
Alex Marchione reached base three times for Richards (1-2).
Sandburg coach JimMorsovillo was happy to see Comia get that first hit out of theway.
“I think that was big for him,” Morsovillo said. “It helped him relax. He playedwell.”
Comia confirmed hewas pretty much floating around the bases after his deep drive landed over the center fielder’s head.
“I was just running,” Comia said. “When I got to third base it hit me. I just gotmy first hit.”
Pat Rafferty also had a big hit for the Eagles, slapping a single to left field in the fourth that scored two runs for a 5-4 lead.
Rafferty, who entered the game in the top of the inning for starting pitcher Ryan Leland, limited a two-on, no-out jam by inducing an RBI fielder’s choice to Marchione and striking out the next two.
“Pat keeps the ball down in the zone,” Morsovillo said. “He got us out of a tough situation.”
Rafferty stressed he wants to make the most of his opportunities, whether it’s on the mound or at the plate.
“Come in and throwstrikes,” he said. “I do like coming in relief. It gets the adrenaline going. It was fun.”
Richards coach Brian Wujcik lamented his team’s shoddy fielding.
The Bulldogs committed four errors behind pitcher Brett Renken, who gave up seven runs, three unearned, and struck out seven in 3 innings.
“You can’t get away with that much free stuff against a team like Sandburg,” Wujcik said.“Wewere in the ballgame and then things kind of fell apart.”