Fremd wins southpaw showdown with Barrington

For five innings, the duel between senior left-handers Clint Terry of Fremd and Robby McDonnell of Barrington didn't disappoint.

But after the top of the sixth inning, Terry walked off the mound in disappointment after Barrington scratched out 2 unearned runs in Wednesday's Mid-Suburban West baseball opener in Palatine.

After the bottom half of the inning, it was McDonnell's turn after Fremd scraped out 4 unearned runs.

Both pitchers threw 5-hitters but Terry and defending West champ Fremd (4-3, 1-0) ended up on the happy end of a 5-2 score in a game that took just an hour and 34 minutes.

"I wasn't too happy," Terry said after 2 errors on a grounder up the middle broke his shutout and led to Barrington (7-6, 0-1) taking the lead on a wild pitch.

Especially since the Illinois-bound McDonnell (3-2) hadn't allowed a hit since Terry's two-out RBI single to center in the first.

"I felt like I was getting more comfortable on the mound and I was able to throw my curve for a strike," McDonnell said after finishing with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. "We got 2 big runs and looked like we were in good shape because Clint threw very well."

Then Eric Paulson ripped a one-hop shot into left for a hit and Terry bounced a single to left to start the sixth. Evan Wright sacrificed and raced to third as both runners scored on a wild throw to third.

"Those are plays you need to make," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko. "We took advantage of a mistake on their part and you hope you can come in and shut the door right away.

"The three-four (Paulson and Terry) in their order did what they needed to do all day and (Terry) is a heck of a pitcher."

Vince Addison followed with an RBI single, took third on a steal and throwing error and scored on Kevin Ciardiello's sacrifice fly.

"I'm proud of them," Fremd coach Chris Piggott said of the aggressive sixth-inning approach. "We could have easily gone into a shell and rolled over and we didn't.

"I thought the best at-bats we had all game were in that inning."

Jack Scheffler and Anthony Brignola had 2 hits off Terry (3-2), who has been talking to UIC but is still looking for a college home. He finished with 9 strikeouts and gave up both of his walks in the first inning as he threw 69 of his 111 pitches for strikes.

Terry also helped himself by picking off a runner at second with one out in the first.

"I thought I threw pretty well but today I was kind of shaky in the bullpen," Terry said. "I had a little butterflies with all the hype going on for the game.

"I finally got my slider back today because it hadn't been working the way I wanted it to be."

Hersey 7, BG 6 (9 inn.): Hersey (8-2, 1-0) battled back to tie the MSL East game three times and won it in the bottom of the ninth when Alex Lee stole third and scored on a throwing error.

Senior Steve Danielak (4-0) went the distance for the win with 9 strikeouts and 1 walk. He threw 82 of his 115 pitches for strikes.

BG (7-4, 0-1) starter Jeremy Salzman went 7 innings and hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth. Hersey tied it at 6-6 on Jay Livesay's bases-loaded, double-play grounder.

BG went ahead 5-3 in the seventh but Hersey rallied with two outs when Lee singled and scored on a Jake Knauss double. Chris Polinski (4-for-5) singled and Knauss scored on a wild pitch.

Domenic Biagini homered and had 2 RBI for Hersey. Jimmy Pinakidis was 3-for-5 and Brian Crowell and Andrew Van Wazer had 2 hits for BG.

Elk Grove 6, Prospect 3: Elk Grove and Prospect were streaking in different directions into their MSL East opener.

But the Grenadiers (3-7, 1-0) ended a five-game losing streak as Donny Duschinsky went the distance and homered and Ryan Daubenspeck hit his third homer of the year.

Elk Grove took a 6-1 lead with a 5-run fourth. Recent sophomore call-up Mike Fox and Ryan Martinski (2-for-4) had two-out RBI singles and Duschinsky followed with a 2-run homer.

Duschinsky scattered 8 hits and had 5 strikeouts and 4 walks.

John Coen went 4-for-4 with a double but Prospect (7-4, 0-1) committed 4 errors as its six-game winning streak ended.

Hoffman 5, Conant 3: Mike Kiviranta took a shutout into the sixth inning for visiting Hoffman Estates (3-7, 1-0) in the MSL West. Colin Conway, Kevin Tednes (3 hits), Mark Roberts and Trent Rehusch drove in runs for the Hawks.

Tednes had a two-out RBI double in the fifth to make it 5-0. Kiviranta had 8 strikeouts in 62/3 innings and Erik Smoy came in to get a strikeout with a runner at second.

Kyle Gizynski doubled and had 2 RBI for Conant (6-2, 0-1).

Meadows 6, Wheeling 5: Steve Rickerson's bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh gave Rolling Meadows (3-8, 1-0) the MSL East win. A leadoff double by Kevin Cwynar (2-for-4), John Bonell's sacrifice and two intentional walks set it up for Rickerson.

Pat McGinn also went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Mustangs. Pinch hitter Tyler Shapiro doubled to start the Wheeling seventh and scored on an RBI single by Edgar Banuelos (2-for-4).

Palatine 15, Schaumburg 0 (5 inn.): Byron Skinner (4-2) threw a 2-hitter and Palatine (7-6, 1-0) supported him with 16 hits in the five-inning MSL West win at Schaumburg (4-4, 0-1).

Mike Luschen went 3-for-4 with a homer and 5 RBI and Dan Haze went 4-for-4. Cody Bobbit also went 3-for-4, Kevin Klein had 2 hits and Jim Smearman homered.