CHICAGO, Ill. – The Carthage Firebirds held the North Park Baseball team to their second-fewest hit total of 2024 as the Vikings fell, 5-2, in Kenosha on Friday afternoon.

North Park had to deal with the fresh arm of one of the top pitchers in Division III Baseball, Bryce Schaum. The hard-throwing righty, who has a sub-1.00 WHIP and is averaging 10.44 strikeouts per game, fanned 13 NPU hitters and allowed just a single hit – an infield single by junior shortstop Reece Arakaki in the second.

The Firebirds had no easy task, either, facing the sharp arsenal of North Park right hander Brandon Leidolph. Leidolph pitched with authority, getting plenty of swings and misses with a hard breaking ball. The righty fanned eight Firebird hitters while allowing four hits in his seven innings of work.

One of those hits was a round tripper by Joe Zuleger, who cleared the wall in right-center field for a solo homer in the fourth.

The biggest moment of the game arrived in the top of the seventh. North Park trailed, 2-1, and the first two batters of the inning out, the Vikings were running out of chances. Senior Garrett Bragg drew a four-pitch walk before freshman catcher Reyn Matsuzaki worked a full count before drawing a walk of his own. Senior Cole Fiorenza came in to run for Bragg at second before sophomore third baseman Carlos Martinez laced a two-strike liner into right field.

The Martinez liner let Fiorenza wheel in from second, tying the game at 2-2.

Unfortunately, the Firebirds marked three runs in the bottom of the eighth thanks to small ball and a two-run double by Zuleger to go ahead 5-2.

North Park tried to rally back on singles by Matsuzaki and sophomore right fielder Joe Perona, but Carthage's Trey Zastrow would face one batter to get the last out of the game via strikeout, handing North Park just its second league loss of 2024.

North Park (21-9, 10-2) gets to dust itself off before facing the Firebirds again on Saturday, April 20, back in Chicago, First pitch at Holmgren is set for 2:00 PM.