BANGOR–The U.S.Central champion from Chicago, Illinois got off to a strong start at the 2016 Senior League World Series. They scored two runs in the first and four more runs in the third inning in a 6-0 win over Cataluna L.L. from Barcelona, Spain in the opening game of the World Series at Mansfield, Stadium.
Joe Trezek was in the middle of both early inning rallies. He hit a single and came around to score in he first inning. In he third inning, Trezek started the rally with a one out triple. He scored the third run of the game on a Gage Olszak single.
While the offense was doing their thing, Dave Navarro was doing his thing with his right arm. Navarro pitched a complete game shutout,allowing five hits, while walking one and striking out four. He retired the final five batters, including three strikeouts in the final two innings. Navarro also helped himself with the bat. He ripped two run double in the third inning.
The all-stars from Illinois advances to a winners bracket game on Monday at 10:30 a.m. against the Asia-Pacific regional winner from Melbourne, Australia.
Frank Hernandez (three hits) and Raul Lopez (two hits) combined for all five hits for Barcelona, Spain. Alex Tome took the loss on the mound, allowing six runs (five earned) in 2.2 innings. Barcelona will play on an elimination game en Monday at 5 p.m.
