By David Boyle
Gargoyle co-editor-in-chief
Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006, The OG, sports

The Uni varsity baseball team led off its season Tuesday with a tough matchup against Urbana High School's JV squad. Despite a 10-5 final margin in favor of Urbana, the Illineks not only kept the game relatively close the entire way, but a number of players showed promise for the future.

The first run of the game was driven in by senior slugger Al Renner. In the top of the first, sophomore Mike Renner reached base on a walk and was brought home on a single by his older brother, giving Uni a 1-0 edge.

In the bottom of the inning, Urbana came out swinging as Al Renner took the mound. Renner threw well, but he walked two batters who were driven in by a single to right field, putting Urbana on top 2-1.

While Uni produced no offense in the second inning, Urbana widened its margin. The Tigers began with a single, then added another base runner on a Uni fielding error. With two outs, the hosts notched consecutive singles to widen the deficit to 5-1.

In the top of the third inning Al Renner, Uni's career home-run leader, got things rolling for the Illineks with a deep triple. Freshman Alan Kessler drove him in with a single, cutting the lead to 5-2. The seesaw continued in the bottom half of the inning, as Urbana added another run to its total.

In the top of the fourth, senior Katie Carmody reached first by a walk. Senior Brett Clark took her spot after an infield groundball resulted in a fielder's choice. Clark made it to third on an error, then Mike Renner took a free pass to first. Senior Ben Sims came to the plate and brought Clark home with an infield grounder, cutting the deficit to 6-3. Al Renner came up next and hit an RBI double, adding another score for Uni.

Taking the mound in the bottom of the fourth, Kessler showed a high level of poise and promise for the first pitching appearance of his high school career. Kessler allowed three runs in that inning but only one in the fifth, which kept the Illineks in the game.

In the sixth, Al Renner drove in Clark with an RBI single to end the scoring. Renner finished the day 4-for-4, with three RBIs.

The Illineks will visit St. Thomas More for a varsity game on Thursday. Click here for the Illineks' complete schedule. (The schedule is for this spring, even though the heading says “2005.”)