Cadets in control

Marmion's Bobby Winkel drives in the winning run Tuesday as the Cadets defeated Marian Central in Aurora.
(Donnell Collins/For The Beacon News)

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After one inning, spectators were having visions of a slugfest -- with runners crossing the plate in bunches.

Then the pitchers for both Marmion Academy and Marian Central settled down, the wind blew in toward home plate and the Cadets finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-2 victory at Marmion's beautiful new Joe Nardone Field.

Brian Burns shut down the Hurricanes after the first frame to improve to 4-0 with a complete-game four-hitter.

"Not to make excuses, but I'm a diabetic, so the first couple innings my blood sugar was low," Burns said. "I had to get a Snickers bar to get my energy up, and then my teammates helped me out on defense."

Actually, it didn't take two innings for the chocolate infusion to show results. Marian scored its two runs in the first three batters. Eli McGuire led off with a single, then scored on a Scott Franzegrote triple past a diving Chris Tydd in right field. Franzegrote then came home on an infield grounder.

From that point, Burns was in control. He allowed singles in the second and fourth innings and, after stolen bases by both runners, left them stranded in scoring position.

Of the 21 outs that Burns recorded, only three made it to the outfield. Most impressively, he didn't allow a walk.

The Cadets (18-2 overall, 10-1 in the Suburban Catholic Conference) responded at the plate in the bottom of the first. David DeSimone led off with a single, then came home one out later when Matt Milroy's liner took a bad bounce past left fielder Casey DiPietro for a triple. Milroy scored on Bobby Winkel's line single to center.

Hurricane starter Dave Parr, who also went the distance and did not allow a free pass, got in a groove as well. Marmion's only threat in innings two through five came in the fourth when Winkel and CJ Foster (two singles) were left in scoring position.

"Both pitchers buckled down and threw strikes, and with the wind blowing in you're not going to see any long shots," said Marmion Academy head coach Dave Rakow. "This year, our infield defense has been outstanding, and that has a lot to do with our record. Brian is a contact pitcher, and he knows he doesn't have to strike guys out."

The Cadets caught a timely break in the sixth. Milroy hit a fly to left that DiPietro lost in the sun, resulting in another fortunate triple for Milroy. He coasted home when Winkel hit a hard grounder to right past a drawn-in Marian infield for the game-winner.

For Marmion Academy, it was a replay of the 3-2 victory over Marian the night before in Woodstock -- on a seventh-inning homer by Foster. For the Hurricanes, the loss dropped them to 14-8 overall and 9-4 in the conference.

"This was a playoff atmosphere today the way both teams were playing," said Rakow. "I think we need a day to relax after the last two."

Burns may urge his teammates to relax with a good candy bar. Baseball: Marmion 3, Marian Central 2