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Sports

Parkway South's Undefeated Run Ends as Patriots Drop Two

Oakville defeats Parkway South in one of the area's biggest regular-season games.

After dropping a 15-5 decision to last Friday evening, the bounced back on Saturday afternoon with an impressive 6-1 win at home in a key Suburban West showdown.

The win for Oakville (15-3, 8-2 Suburban West) marked the second time this season that the Tigers had lost by 10 runs or more, only to bounce back with a win a short time later. Oakville dropped an 11-0 decision to Vianney on March 22, before defeating the Golden Griffins 6-4 on April 16.

The loss for the Patriots (18-1, 9-1 Suburban West) marked Parkway South’s first of the 2011 campaign, and kept the league race tight.

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(Update: Parkway South lost on Tuesday night to Eureka, 7-1)

For Oakville head coach Rich Sturm, Friday’s loss to the Patriots only hardened the Tiger’s resolve come Saturday afternoon.

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“This team has shown a high level of resiliency and toughness all year long,” Sturm said. “We lost by 10 runs against Vianney and then came back a couple weeks later and beat them and that was a conversation that we had on the bus Friday night.

“We did not play our best ball on Friday and Parkway South did and I was just proud to see our guys get refocused and play a little bit better today.”

Oakville starting pitcher Chad Gendron chalked up his seventh win of the season as he gave up just three hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Gendron gave up one run, while walking five batters and retiring four hitters via strikeout. He currently has a record of 7-0 with a 0.97 ERA.

“It was a solid game, but I think I was a little off, because I was all around the zone today,” Gendron said. “I was basically, effectively wild, if I can call it that.”

Brian Whaley came in for the final 2/3 of an inning and essentially slammed shut any chance for the Patriots to comeback from their 6-1 deficit.

“You’ve got to tip your cap to our pitchers with Chad Gendron giving up only three hits and then Brian Wahley to come in at the top of the order and find a way to get the last two outs,” Sturm said.

He also noted that Gendron had been on the mound twice over the past week and grabbed two wins for the Tigers.

“Chad’s just been dominant since the beginning of the year,” Sturm said. “He’s 7-0 now with an ERA lingering around 1.00 and he’s been the leader of our staff. He was a great pitcher last year, but he’s matured a lot and that’s made him into the complete package.”

Parkway South starting pitcher Jackson Crosley gave up six runs on eight hits, with two of those runs being earned. Crosley also gave up three walks in his first loss of the season. He’s currently 4-1 overall with a 2.21 ERA.

Parkway South head coach Adam Stahl declined to comment after Saturday’s loss at Oakville.

Oakville’s Tim Chambliss was 2-4 at the plate with two doubles and one run scored. He’s currently batting .418 with a team-leading seven doubles, one triple, two home runs and 22 runs batted in.

“Last night we had a tough one against Parkway South, so it was nice to put that one behind us and it shows that we can bounce back from that kind of a loss easily,” Chambliss said. “It really showed that we can battle through adversity really well.”

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