As the head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Hinsdale Central, Tom Dorrance saw a lot of junior Kasey Ourada during the offseason.

That's why he wasn't surprised when Ourada had some arm problems.

"I saw him throwing 200 footballs a day and I would tell him to take it easy," Dorrance said of Ourada, who is one of the top pitchers on the baseball team and was the backup quarterback on the football team last season. "Then, a week later, he has arm problems. It was just overuse, but I think he's fine now."

He looked fine Saturday, pitching a complete game to help the Red Devils beat Lyons Township 6-3 in the first game of a key West Suburban Conference Silver Division doubleheader in Western Springs. LT (15-4, 9-2 in Silver) bounced back to win the second game 14-2 in five innings. The series was scheduled to wrap up Tuesday in Hinsdale.

Ourada (4-0) allowed two earned runs on 10 hits, struck out four and walked six.

"I could've pitched better, but this was a big win for us," said Ourada, who was shut down during the summer with a bone bruise and tendinitis in his right throwing arm. "The whole week we were getting pumped up and getting after it at practice so we could step it up for this game. I was a little bit nervous at first, but I knew my teammates and coaches were behind me and that helps."

Hinsdale Central (16-2, 6-2 in Silver) scored three unearned runs in the top of the first inning without a hit. Two walks, two hit batters and two errors resulted in all the runs scoring against LT starting pitcher Kyle Corcoran.

The Red Devils made it 6-0 in the second when Andrew Nicholas (2 for 3, 2 runs) and Tobi Adeyemi led off with singles and scored on a towering home run by Mark Noth over the 325-foot sign in left field.
"It felt good," Noth said of his blast. "It was a 1-2 count and he threw me a fastball inside, and I just hit it well. It was definitely nice to come out and get a win against them."

Hinsdale Central managed just one hit in the final five innings against reliever Josh Heller, but Ourada made the lead stand up, despite allowing two runs in the third and one in the sixth. The Red Devils handed Corcoran (3-1), who went 7-0 last season, his first varsity loss.

"We don't win many games over here (at LT), so to get that first one was huge," Dorrance said. "That second game ... I've lived through that a lot. Every time I come over here, I have nightmares."

LT outhit Hinsdale Central 10-4 in the opener but stranded 12 runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the third and fourth innings.

Ourada, who also benefited from two double plays, retired the side in order in the seventh inning for the only time the entire game.

"I was very impressed with Kasey," Dorrance said. "Kasey is the kind of kid that is a leader and battles out there. If he gets himself in a spot, he can get out of it. He just grits his teeth and comes at you. He's a competitor, and I love having him on the mound."

In the second game, LT scored a run in the second inning and then batted around in the third and fourth innings, scoring five and eight runs, respectively, to earn the split. Colin Cimala had an RBI single in the fourth inning and Drew Bailey doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to account for the Red Devils' runs.

Noth also hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning, to lift the Red Devils to a 7-5 nonconference win over Leyden April 20 in Northlake. Bailey (2-0) was the winning pitcher.

Hinsdale Central beat York 15-10 in 11 innings April 19 in a game that was postponed because of darkness after 10 innings the previous day. Adeyemi doubled home two runs and Noth (5 for 7, double) hit a two-run homer in the 11th frame to make a winner of Charlie Thomas (1-0). Brett Suchy went 4 for 6 with a homer, two doubles and six RBIs.

Copyright© 2006, The Doings