JOHNSTOWN —
Alex Norman and his Chicago Metro teammates are peaking at the right time.
Norman threw a six-hit complete game Thursday morning as the Des Plaines Patriots beat Toledo 3-1 in a AAABA Tournament elimination game at Point Stadium.
Chicago will play New Orleans at 10 this morning at the Point in a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday but was pushed back by poor field conditions at Fichtner Field.
Toledo jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Seth Willoughby singled, stole second and third and scored on Kurt Farmer’s single to center.
But that was all the Monarchs could get off of Norman.
“He’s just a little lefty from Beloit College in Wisconsin, a Division III school, and he’s just out there throwing strikes and mixing speeds,” Chicago Metro manager Mike Schultz said.
“That’s what we’ve been preaching all year. I’m so happy for him. He told me right after the game that’s the best game he’s ever thrown in his life.”
Norman struck out three and walked one in the victory.
“I was just throwing strikes and letting them hit it, letting my defense play,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been anywhere without my defense back there.
“They made all of the plays.”
Ryan Konsler made a nice catch on Reid Rooney’s sinking liner to right in the eighth inning and Brian Evans robbed A.J. DeMarco of a hit in the ninth with a diving stab behind first base in the ninth.
“Kevin Serna in center field, he can really go get it,” Schultz said. “Ryan Konsler made a fantastic diving play late in the game there with a guy on base. That would have been a triple if it had gotten by him. Brian Evans plays a great second base as well. They played a smart game. They made the routine plays, and I don’t see any errors up on the board, so that’s good in my book.”
Norman said that the Patriots have been stepping up their play of late.
“The last few games are some of the best I’ve seen this team play this summer,” Norman said. “We’re playing really well right now.”
Chicago scored all three of its runs in the third inning. Losing pitcher Mike McKinley got two outs after walking the first two batters, but Serna hit an RBI single to left to tie the game.
Jimmy Risi then tripled to right-center field to drive in two more runs.
“It was a 3-2 count,” Risi said. “Luckily, he just missed a little up and in. I got my pitch and turned on it.”
That was enough for Norman.
“I felt like I was getting stronger as I went,” he said.
Alex Johnson, who had two hits on the day, singled in the seventh for Toledo’s lone hit in the final four innings.
“It was one of those days where everything we hit hard went right to somebody,” Toledo manager Dale Gray said.
“And they made good plays. I can’t take anything away from them. That pitcher just kept them in the game the whole time.”
Mike Moyer pitched three innings of scoreless relief for Toledo, which went 2-2 in the tournament.
“We love coming here,” Gray said. “Maybe if we would have hit just a little bit better we would have been in a lot better shape. Our pitching did a nice job for us this whole tournament. But we love playing here. We got to play some good teams. Both games that we lost were games that we could have easily taken care of.”
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TODD BERKEY/THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT Chicago Metro’s Alex Norman delivers a pitch on Thursday. John Rucosky
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