On March 12, the COD baseball team had their first home game of the season. The Chaparrals started their season in Tennessee but went winless while on the business trip (0-6). DuPage is looking to take their first win to get on the right track for the rest of the season. The Morton College Panthers are 6-6 and rolled into town on a four-game losing streak against Moberly Area Community College. The Chaps managed to break their six-game losing streak with a close game and a 1-0 win.

Steve Hobbs toed the rubber for the Chaparrals. Hobbs is a second-year transfer from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and went to Glenbard North High School.

Hobbs struck out the first batter he saw on three straight pitches. In the next at bat, Mortons’ David Garza caught a barrel to get on base. Hobbs got out of the first half of the inning after making Aiden Knipper ground into a 5-4-3 double play. 

For the Panthers, Joseph Zietara started on the mound and faced the Chaps leadoff hitter Michael Morgan. Morgan got on base by working the count and getting walked. Joe Pender and Alex Chaltin flew out to right field and second base respectively. Designated hitter Cullen Kleinsasser settled into the box with two out and a runner on first. Morgan received the steal sign from the third base coach and took off to put himself in scoring position. Morgan would get stranded at second after Kleinsasser struck out on a curveball in the turf.

Hobbs continued to shove into the second. He made the top of the second quick work after going three up, three down. 

Matt McBrien led off COD into the bottom of the second but struck out for the first out of the inning. Zach Glidewell got the first hit of the day for DuPage on a slicing line drive to right field that landed him a one-out double. Glidewell got stranded on second after two strikeouts from AJ Fulscher and Anthony Titone to end the second inning. 

Hobbs struck out the first batter he faced in the top of the third but would give up a single to Taylor Voorhees. Aidan Brokaw ripped a single into right field to put runners at first and second with one out. Hobbs made the next batter fly out to center for the second out of the inning. He found his way out of the jam with a strikeout on Garza. 

Matthew Betancourt led off in the bottom of the third but would strike out for the first out. Morgan got jammed on an inside pitch that led to the second out. Pender flew out to right field to end the third inning.

Hobbs made quick work in the top of the third, going 1-2-3 yet again with two strikeouts. 

Chaltin flew out to the deep part of left field for the first out, followed by two ground outs by McBrien and Kleinsasser to end the fourth inning. 

Denham Kozy flew out to Glidewell in right field for the first out of the top of the fifth. Hobbs let up a double down the right field line from the bat of Hayden Mosley. Voorhees got hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with one out. Hobbs struck out Brokaw with a curveball for the second out and Coulson Reidel hit a soft chopper right back at Hobbs, which he bobbled but completed the throw to first to end the top half of the inning.

Glidewell smoked an opposite field liner for the Chaps in the bottom of the fifth. Fulscher struck out, Titone grounded out, and Betancourt struck out to leave Glidwell stranded to end the inning.

Garza got his second hit of the day by pulling a single into left field. Aiden Knipper worked a walk to put runners at first and second with no outs. Coach Pat Leahy went out to talk to Hobbs to give him a breather.

Hobbs fought back and struck out Joseph Smith for the first out. Omar Alday hit a hard ground ball through the left side of the infield to load the bases with one out. With the bases loaded, the Panthers had a big chance to grab a large lead. DuPages’ defense had Hobbs’ back though by turning a 5-4-3 double play to end the top half of the sixth. 

Morgan worked a walk to start off the bottom half for COD. Morgan advanced to second on a ball in the turf. Pender flew out to the catcher in foul territory. Morgan advanced to third on another ball in the turf to put him 90 feet away from grabbing the lead. Chaltin would bring home Morgan on a sac fly to center field to grab a 1-0 lead. Kleinsasser hit a ground ball to end the sixth. 

Hobbs’ day came to an end, getting relieved by Mike Biscan. Hobbs finished his day with 97 total pitches, nine strikeouts, one walk, one hit by pitch, and six hits in six innings of work.

As a sophomore on the team, Hobbs commented on the win for the Chaps. “This group of guys, it’s fun, a lot of fun,” he said. “I love everyone on the team, and the start of the season isn’t what we wanted so far, coming into today. I just wanted to bring home a win on the Chap field.”

Biscan’s first batter of the day was Mosley. Biscan sent Mosley back to the dugout after an inside curveball that clipped the strike zone for the first out of the top of the seventh. Voorhers hit a slow chopper to third, where Titone charged in on it and threw Voorhers out at first. Brokaw hit a hard ground ball right to the shortstop, Chaltin, to end the top of the seventh. McBrien started COD off with a strikeout in the bottom of the seventh. Glidewell found a gap in the right side of the infield for a single but got thrown out trying to steal second during the next at bat. Fulshcer flew out to center to end the bottom of the seventh.

Biscan continued into the eighth. Reidel hit the ball down the third base line only for Titone to gather it and throw him out first. Garza reached first base on a fielding error by Fluscher at second. Biscan got out of the inning after a fielder’s choice that got Garza out at second and a ground ball to Chaltin to get Kozy out. 

Titone smacked a lead off double to left field to start the bottom of the eighth. Betancourt hit a sharp line drive right at the left fielder for the first out. Morgan hit a liner right to Mosley at short and Titone got doubled up at second to end the top of the eighth. 

Biscan got the green light to pitch in the top of the ninth with a one run lead (1-0). Alday ground softly to Titone which Titone made easy work of for the first out of the ninth. Needing only two more outs for the first win of the season, Biscan gladly went back to work. Kozy hit a little dribbler back to Biscan, Biscan bobbled it but finished the play for the second out of the inning. During the final at bat, Biscan made Mosley’s metal bat break at the handle with a fastball, which led to a groundout to the shortstop. With this, COD took their first win of the season with a score of 1-0. 

When interviewed after the game, Biscan said, “Steve pitched a great game. I knew that they were struggling to put balls in play, and having a run is awesome. I just tried to go out there, throw strikes, and trust the defense, and it worked out pretty well.”

Coach Pat reflected on the win and how the season is going so far. “It means alot, it was obviously a tough stretch to start. There’s a lot of talent on this team. [We] just wanted to get to a point where the guys weren’t pressing too much. They knew what they could do. We don’t really have many teams we can roll over in this region so it’s definitely good to come out and put a good showing against a good team.” 

The Chaps have a record of 1-6 and  will take on Lake County College at home on March 13 at 2 p.m.