Bartlett’s Vince Yario flashes premium stuff on the mound, but so far this season, the results haven’t always followed for the junior right-hander.

First-coach Alex Coan hasn’t been discouraged, however.

“He’s competed really well on the mound,” Coan said of Yario. “We’ve run into some really tough lineups. Not making any excuses, but we face really quality opponents.”

Viola, Yario put it all together in Monday’s Upstate Eight Conference opener against Streamwood.

Yario was dominant for the host Hawks in a 5-0 victory and stymied the Sabres over five innings on a frigid day, striking out five while scattering three hits and a walk. He also singled.

Josh Colaizzi led Bartlett (3-7-1, 1-0) with an RBI single and a pair of walks and threw a perfect seventh to close out the game. Joe Kennedy and Gio Scivittaro each added RBI singles.

Casey Nosek, Austin Paskewic and Adan Rojas had the hits for Streamwood (3-4, 0-1).

Yario said there wasn’t a specific focus during bullpen sessions that turned his season around.

“I just had a lot more confidence out there,” Yario said. “We’ve faced a lot of tough competition this year. That’s good for us because we need it.”

Coming into Monday’s start, Yario had struck out 23 in 11 innings while allowing 13 earned runs and 11 walks. He only walked one against Streamwood.

“I’ve been getting into a lot of three-ball counts and that was my goal — to lower that this year and this outing,” Yario said. “That’s all I wanted to focus on, just throwing it over the plate.

“I have a lot of confidence in my team, too.”

Yario pumped strikes on a tough hitting day, which stood out to Streamwood coach Dan Jennings.“He threw a lot of strikes,” Jennings said of Yario. “He threw to everyone in the order, even to guys like Paskewic and Riley Nosek and the middle of the lineup and challenged them to swing the bat.

“On a day like (Monday), if you walk people, you lose.”

Streamwood countered with Paskewic, its ace. Bartlett ran up his pitch count and chased him after four innings. He allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits. He struck out seven and walked four.

“They do a really good job with two strikes,” Jennings said of Bartlett. “They battle. I thought (Paskewic) threw well enough to win. He’s thrown really well every outing.

“It’s just a matter of hitting and making plays in the field. We’ll get there. We’re young.”

The stuff for Yario has always been undeniable. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and he can throw three or four pitches for strikes, including a slider and an improving change-up.

“He’s got really good horizontal break on his fastball,” Coan said. “He throws a heavy two-seamer. On a warmer day, there would be a little bit better velocity. You’re looking at a really special arm.

“He can be a really good piece. I’m really proud of the guy he’s grown into. He’s just a dog, a competitor.”

Yario set out to harness that talent and turn it into results. It started with a switch to a new travel program, Canes Illinois, and has continued in Coan’s first season leading the program.

“I really fixed my mechanics,” Yario said. “That really helped me out a lot. That’s all I’m focusing on this year, just my mechanics. Hopefully that brings me to the college level.”

Outings like he had Monday will go a long way toward making that hope a reality.

“That’s the Vince Yario we know we have on the team,” Coan said. “We’re really proud of him for going out there and doing his thing. We just told him to stay the course.”

Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.