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District Play Week 2
Stratford Spartans vs. Northbrook Raiders Tuesday February 18th, 2025
Week 2 in District 17-6A kicked off on the road at Northbrook High School for a Raiders vs. Spartans matchup on the Diamond. The Spartans would strike quickly in the top of the 1st. Senior Rylan Reichenau would stoke the first pitch of the game to center field for a line-drive single to get the juices flowing. The Spartans were unable to capitalize in the top of the first after Junior Luke Zilafro’s double with 2 outs. Senior Burke Malloy toed the rubber for Sparty Tuesday night and quickly set the Raiders down 1-2-3 in the first by striking out the side. The top of the 2nd would see Stratford put a single run up to open the scoring. Junior Zach Christie led the inning off with a sharp single to center. Junior Brandon Phillips drove home Christie with a hard shot that the third baseman was unable to handle, making it 1-0 Green. The Raiders would knot the game at 1 in the 3rd, but the boys in Green would respond in the top of the 4th. Senior Blake Barry opened the inning with a walk and was advanced to second on Christie’s second single in as many at-bats, placing runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. A Phillips single to deep shortstop would load the bases. Reichenau stepped into the box with 2 outs and the bases loaded and delivered a 2-out single to center, scoring Barry and Christie to make it 3-1 Spartans. Not to be outdone, Sophomore Ryan Lamon cleared the bases with a double over the centerfielder’s head, scoring Phillips and Reichenau to extend the lead to 5-1. In the 5th, Stratford would extend the lead to 7-1 on a Barry triple to center, scoring Senior Gavin Mundwiller followed by a Christie sacrifice fly, scoring Barry. After a couple of runs in the bottom of the 5th to make the score 7-3 Spartans, the boys would tack on 2 more in the top half of the 6th to extend the lead. Reichenau would open the inning by reaching on an error, followed by Senior Chris Johnson trotting to first after getting hit by a pitch. With 2 outs, Barry again would deliver with a sharp single to left, scoring Reichenau and Johnson and giving the Spartans the runs they needed to close out the Raiders. Senior Burke Malloy was dominant on the mound on this night. The right-hander gave Coach Josh Hall 3 dominant innings on the bump, only allowing 2 hits and striking out 7 Raiders.
Highlights
Stratford Spartans vs. Northbrook Raiders, Friday February 21st, 2025
To finish out the Northbrook series, a Friday night with picture-perfect weather was on tap at The Backyard. The Spartans opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with Senior Owen Bennett smoking a single to center. Junior Luke Zilafro made it 1-0 with a RBI single to left, scoring Bennett. It was quickly 2-0 after Senior Gavin Mundwiller, who was running for catcher Zilafro, scored on a wild pitch. After 1 inning of play, the boys in Green were up 2-0. Northbrook would respond in their half of the 2nd…and respond big-time. When the Spartans came to bat in the bottom half they found themselves down 2-3.
The lead would grow to 2-4 before Stratford came back in the 3rd. Senior Rylan Reichenau led the inning off with a single. Reichenau's steal of second and a walk of Bennett put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Both Reichenau and Bennett would again steal bases setting up a sacrifice fly from Zilafro to score Reichenau and cut the Northbrook lead to 3-4. After a Blake Barry walk, Zach Christie tied the game with an RBI ground-out, scoring Bennett. At the end of the inning, the Spartans again found themselves in the lead 5-4 after a Northbrook miscue. The fight from the Raiders didn’t stop…they would regain the lead with a 2-out, 2-run double to make the score 6-5 Raiders after 3 ½ innings of baseball.
Coach Josh Hall challenged his squad between innings to respond…and boy did they respond. Junior Will Tacker started the hit parade by leading the inning off with a double down the leftfield line. He would score on a Raider error, tying the game at 6. Junior Jack McAfee walked, Reichenau followed by getting hit by a pitch, and a Bennett walk loaded the bases for Zilafro. A hard line-drive to center by Zilafro scored McAfee and Reichenau, making it 8-6 Spartans. The boys would not look back…Bennett would steal home, and Barry drove in Mundwiller on an RBI ground-out, making the score 10-6. Junior Zach Christie would get the scoring started again drawing a walk, followed by a Senior Peter Vescovo walk. Both runners would advance a base on a wild pitch, allowing Junior Matthew De Jager to drive in Christie with an RBI single to left, making it 11-6. Stratford would tack on another run via the wild pitch variety making it 12-6 Green. The lead grew to 16-6 with hits by Bennett, Vescovo, and Christie and a sacrifice fly by Zilafro to close out the Raiders and move to 4-0 in District 17-6A play. Bennett, Junior Will McCarroll, and Fireballer Quinn Fitzpatrick combined for 6 innings on the mound, striking out a total of 8 Raiders.
Highlights
Stratford Spartans vs. Kingwood Park Panthers, Saturday February 22nd, 2025
The Spartans hosted the Panthers on Saturday, stepping out of 17-6A District play, on a wonderful day for baseball. The Panthers presented a great challenge coming out of District 16-5A and putting a well-coached product on the field each week. This one would prove to be a high-scoring, high-octane affair that lasted well over 3 hours! Senior Rylan Reichenau opened the game for the boys in Green with a line-drive double to the left centerfield gap and getting the dugout fired up early. Senior Owen Bennett followed with a walk. Both would advance a base after a deep fly out by Luke Zilafro. Senior Chris Johnson put the Spartans up when he laced a double down the right-field line, scoring Reichenau and Bennett to make the score 2-1. Junior Matthew De Jager drove home Jack McAfee, who was running for Johnson to extend the lead to 3-1. Stratford added a 4th run in the 2nd when Bennett doubled to left and scored on an error.
Park added 5 runs in the top of the 3rd to make it 6-3 after a barrage of barrels of the bat and a few Spartan miscues. The boys would answer and tie the game at 6 in the bottom half of the inning. Johnson walked to lead off the inning. After a De Jager single and a Brandon Phillips bunt single, the bases were loaded with no outs. Senior Ranes Denman produced a sacrifice fly to center, scoring McAfee. De Jager would steal home to tie the game at 6. The Kingwood Park bats delivered in the 5th with 6 runs and another big inning. At the end of 4 ½ innings, the score was 12-6 Panthers. Stratford would not go away quietly.
The boys in Green added 2 runs to close the gap on singles by De Jager and Phillips and Junior Will McCarroll scoring De Jager and Vescovo. On this Saturday, offense was on the menu and being served up often on both sides. The scoreboard would read 15-10 after 6 innings of play. Zilafro added the 9th run on an RBI single, scoring Bennett and followed by a Barry RBI ground-out, scoring Zilafro.
When Stratford came to bat in the home half of the 7th, they needed 5 runs to tie the score at 15. McCarroll opened the inning with a walk, followed by Will Tacker getting hit by a pitch. Another walk issued to Bennett loaded the bases. RBI machine Zilafro drove in McCarroll on a sacrifice fly, but that was all the damage the boys could produce on this day. The Spartans would fall 11-15 in this high-scoring affair.
All in all, it was a great week of baseball as they look ahead to week 3 in District 17-6A play. On deck this week are the Jersey Village Falcons from Cy Fair ISD.
This week for the Spartans!
Venmo @SHSbaseballtailgates - 15.00 per person, per tailgate. Please list date in notes you will be attending so we can plan food accordingly. Come join the growing group prior to each baseball game. All proceeds go to support the SHS Baseball program!