Efficient Hayes makes sure Elk Grove stays alive

Ryan Hayes didn't leave his Elk Grove teammates suffering out in Friday afternoon's 90-degree heat.

The right-hander also made sure the defending Cook County American Legion baseball champions weren't hurting for pitching when the tournament resumes today.

Hayes, who will be a senior at Schaumburg, needed only an hour and 52 minutes and 95 pitches to go the distance as third-seed Elk Grove (20-13) beat No. 5 Glenview 8-4 in an elimination game at Rec Park in Arlington Heights.

"He stepped up huge for us today," said Elk Grove coach Brian Mucha after Hayes allowed only 1 run and 5 hits in the first 7 innings.

"I'm at my best when I get everything over," Hayes said after throwing 69 strikes. "I was going right at guys because the wind (blowing in at 25 mph) was going to kill everything.

"I was just going right at guys with my fastball and getting ahead in the count."

Elk Grove rebounded from losing the completion of its suspended game 6-2 to top-seed Palatine (27-7) on Friday.

Rain postponed Friday's third game between Arlington (26-11) and Palatine, the only unbeaten team left in the tourney, to noon today at Rec Park. Elk Grove plays the winner at approximately 3 p.m.

Palatine, which won the state tourney as the host last year, would take its first County title since 1997 with 2 wins today. Elk Grove and Arlington are hoping to force a Sunday finale at 11 a.m. at Rec Park.

After losing to Palatine, Elk Grove realized it needed a different approach against Glenview with the conditions.

"We got under the ball a lot (against Palatine) and everyone made an adjustment," said Elk Grove center fielder and No. 6 hitter Kevin Gannon, who went 4-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI. "The middle of the lineup has been pretty consistent and that's what we need to happen to win this thing."

Dave Geller went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI behind Gannon. Elk Grove got 2 hits apiece from its first three hitters as Joe Dombek and Connor McHugh also drove in runs and Donny Duschinsky had a double.

And Elk Grove's first 7 runs came after two outs - including four in the third for a 5-1 lead as a dropped two-out popup led to a 2-run single by Gannon and an RBI single by Geller.

"Everyone hit the ball well today," Hayes said.

"These guys still wanted to play and they swung the bats a lot better," Mucha said.

Glenview scored in the top of the first on Dan McMahon's double to left and groundouts by Chris Szafranski and Sully Stadler. But Hayes mixed his curve and changeup with his fastball and worked the outside corner to get 11 groundball outs.

Hayes had only 1 walk and 3 strikeouts and needed only 35 pitches to get through the third through seventh innings. Duschinsky made a pair of slick backhanded picks of grounders down the third-base line for outs and McHugh nailed Szafranski at second trying to stretch a single to right in the fifth.

"He did great," said Gannon, who will continue playing at John Carroll University in Ohio. "He kept his cool."

And kept Gannon and his teammates a bit cooler in the process since they had already absorbed some of the heat against Palatine.

Palatine's Zach Demmon, who entered the game with Elk Grove in the fifth inning Thursday night, finished off the victory Friday.

"He did a fantastic job," said Palatine coach Jeff Ryder. "and without (Matt) Johnsen and (Mike) Schoolcraft (because of injuries), he really stepped up."

So did right fielder Sean Stutzman, whose diving catch in the gap on Gannon's drive helped spoil an Elk Grove threat with runners at first and second and no outs in the eighth.