Spartans Blank Canyon

Villa Park pitcher Erik Averill and the Spartans picked the right time of the season to start heating up.

Averill pitched a three-hitter Friday as host Villa Park defeated Canyon, 4-0, to notch its eighth victory in nine games and take a 1 1/2-game lead over the Comanches in the Century League standings with two weeks left in the regular season.

Villa Park (15-6, 8-2), which took two games from Canyon (14-8, 7-4) this week, has come a long way since opening the season 7-5.

“At the beginning of the season we were ranked No. 1 and we didn’t deserve to be there,” said Averill, who is trying to help the Spartans win their second consecutive Southern Section title. “We lost seven starters and realized the only way to do it was to climb a level each week. Soon, we’ll be at the top.”

Averill (5-4) struck out six and benefited from four double plays. A costly Canyon error in the second inning didn’t hurt either.

Jarad Hildenbrand, Ben Hanna and Averill hit consecutive singles to load the bases with one out. Hildenbrand and Hanna then scored after Comanche pitcher Rocky Roquet threw the ball away while trying to pick Averill off first base.

Averill, who went to third on the error, scored one out later on Chris Bragg’s single to left to make it 3-0. Villa Park added its final run in the fifth when Bragg singled, took second on a sacrifice bunt and came home on Bryan Arguello’s single to center.

While Canyon has lost three of four games, the Spartans appear headed in the opposite direction.

“We certainly like to play our best at the end of the year,” Villa Park Coach Tom Tereschuk said. “Right now we do seem to be peaking. We need to build on that and keep it going.”