Gelabert hits it big for Hersey

One hit by Hersey senior Alex Gelabert left Barrington wondering what Jackson Lundmark has to do to get a victory.

Lundmark should have been walking off the mound in the sixth inning with his no-hitter intact and in a tie game. Hersey ace Steve Danielak should have been heading back to the mound in Friday's Mid-Suburban League baseball crossover at Barrington.

But Danielak's fly ball to center field was dropped. Gelabert lined a double to right-center field with the only hit the Huskies got and needed as courtesy runner Mike Tsiolis scored to give them a 2-1 victory.

"To throw a 1-hitter and lose - that kid pitched a great game," said Hersey coach Bob Huber. "He definitely should have been out of that inning, anyway. We always talk about freebies and we sure won (that category) today."

Hersey (19-6, 8-3) played flawless defense behind Danielak (6-2) as it exceeded its win total of last year and took a 11/2-game lead in the East on idle Prospect and Buffalo Grove.

The right-handed Danielak, an Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne signee, threw a 3-hitter and gave up his only run in the first on Jack Scheffler's sacrifice fly.

"I'd rather have 10 runs," Danielak said of the game with no margin for error. "But it was a fun game to play and we had a lot of nice plays that kept us in the game."

Unfortunately for Lundmark (0-3), the run he allowed in the second inning was also unearned. Barrington (15-12, 6-5) committed 4 errors as its four-game winning streak was snapped and it fell 3 games behind West leader Fremd.

"Every game out he's pitched outstanding," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko. "It's a shame because he's having a great year and we're not giving him run support or defensive support."

Lundmark threw 63 of his 108 pitches for strikes and had 4 walks and 1 strikeout. He relied on his fastball and changeup since his curveball wasn't as effective as usual.

"It's a tough loss but on a day like this you have to expect some errors," Lundmark said. "I was doing my job and kept trying to pitch."

Gelabert drove in the Huskies' first run with a bases-loaded groundout. The right-handed hitter then drove a high, outside 0-1 fastball to break up Lundmark's no-hitter and tie game in the sixth.

"He changed speeds well and it threw our guys off," Gelabert said. "He threw it outside (in the sixth) and that's what we practice every day, take it the opposite way and hit it hard that way."

Barrington threatened in the bottom of the sixth when Jim Cook led off with his second single and moved to third on Anthony Brignola's sacrifice and John O'Connell's fly to right.

Scheffler hit a two-hop chopper over the mound on a 3-2 changeup and shortstop Alex Lee charged and made a perfect throw to first.

"That was a great play there because in these conditions anything could have happened," Huber said.

"The whole game I didn't feel I had my best stuff," Danielak said, "but at times it was good enough."

Lundmark pitched around a dropped popup to start the seventh but Danielak retired the final three hitters.

"If it's a no-hitter, it's a no-hitter," Lundmark said, "but the ultimate goal is to win the game."

Fremd 5, Rolling Meadows 2: Clint Terry (6-3) starred with the bat and on the mound as host Fremd (14-10, 9-2) increased its West lead to 21/2 games in the MSL crossover win over Rolling Meadows (7-18, 5-6).

Terry pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks. He helped his own cause with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Kurt Kaufman earned a save with a scoreless inning that included a pair of strikeouts.

Sean Stutzman had a double, a single and scored twice for the Vikings (14-10, 9-2).

Wheeling 1, Hoffman 0: Prevailing in an impressive pitchers dual, Steve Yfantis threw a 2-hit, complete-game shutout for visiting Wheeling (6-17, 2-9) in the MSL crossover. Yfantis struck out three and walked three.

Mike Kiviranta (4 innings) and Trent Rehusch (3 innings) combined for a 3-hitter for Hoffman (11-14, 6-5). The only Wheeling hit that left the infield was a two-out RBI double in the fourth by Theo Yfantis.

Postponements: MSL games rescheduled to today are Buffalo Grove at Palatine (10 a.m.), Prospect at Conant (11 a.m.) and Schaumburg at Elk Grove (11 a.m.).