Schwind, Fan help Schaumburg cool off Broncos
Brad Schwind and Michael Fan helped Schaumburg end Barrington’s 11-game winning streak Wednesday in Barrington.
Schwind pitched 5 scoreless innings and Fan belted 2 home runs to lead the Saxons past the Broncos 6-2.
“My pitching outing was good,” said Schwind, who improved to 4-0 on the season. “But my team got it done for me. I went out there with confidence when we got that lead.”
Fan gave Schwind that early breathing room when he blasted a 3-run shot in the top of the first.
Schaumburg (5-7, 2-5), which had been struggling to break through offensively, changed that in the third inning. The Saxons strung together four consecutive hits as Fan led off with a single and Kyle Reinhart doubled. Jack Holden and Connor Quinn followed with RBI singles and Schaumburg led 5-0.
“We put pressure on them and got to their bullpen,” Schaumburg coach Cal Seely said. “That is always our goal. Get to the bullpen and see what they got.”
While Schaumburg was converting, Barrington (14-7, 7-1) was not. The Broncos had two runners on in the second, third and fourth innings, only to be shut down by Schwind.
“My teammates did a great job fielding behind me,” said Schwind, who allowed just 4 hits. “I am glad our team stuck it out.”
Barrington coach Pat Wire said that these were the type of innings that the Broncos didn’t have during their streak.
“We just didn’t hit when we needed to,” Wire said. “We have been doing that.”
Fan showed off his true power in the sixth. The 6-foot-2 junior drilled a long shot the easily cleared the scoreboard in left field to increase the Saxons’ lead to 6-0.
“I have been struggling a bit at the plate,” Fan said. “My teammates have been giving me confidence. I didn’t know it was over the scoreboard until someone told me.”
Barrington’s Justin Dragosz put the Broncos on the board with a blast to left-center to cut the lead to 6-1.
Dragosz, who hit his third home run in the last four games, seemed to give Barrington some life as the Broncos tried to rally in the 7th.
Mitch Pfeiffer led off with a double. Barrington then loaded the bases thanks to a pair of walks and closed to 6-2 on a sacrifice fly Macray Poidomani. Another walk reloaded the bases for Dragosz.
Seely countered by bringing in junior Josh Rahn to face Dragosz, and Rahn induced a groundout to short to end the game.
“I just tried to get it inside on his hands,” Rahn said, “and he hit it right to our shortstop.”
“I have been seeing it well,” Dragosz said. “I really wanted to get a hit that last time, but I guess you can’t get a hit every time.”
Wire was pleased at the fact that his team battled.
“We had the right guy up there at the end,” Wire said. “He hit the ball right on the screws. It was just right at their guy.”
Rolling Meadows 6, Elk Grove 2: Mustangs senior starter Matt Dennis struck out nine and allowed 4 hits in a complete-game victory to help Rolling Meadows gain a half-game lead in the MSL East race.
Alex Niecikowski had 2 hits and scored twice for Rolling Meadows (9-8-1, 6-1) and Mike Dolan doubled and drove in 2 runs.
All 4 hits for Elk Grove (16-4, 6-2) were singles.
Fremd 7, Hoffman Estates 3: The host Vikings had a 5-run fifth inning and got a homer from Randy Will to improve to 4-3 against MSL foes.
Brian Jestice earned the victory, and Sam Beutler, Marcus Middlebrook and Andrew Stark each had doubles for Fremd (10-7 overall).
Buffalo Grove 9, Wheeling 8: The visiting Wildcats rallied with a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Bison went ahead with a 6-run fourth and managed to stay ahead the rest of the way.
Brian Kleczynski earned the victory after pitching 4 innings, and Justin Hasek got a save.
Luke Potnick had double and tripled and had a team-best 2 RBI for the Bison (7-9, 5-4).
Nathan Cooney, Ian Gilliam and Angelo DiBlasio had 2 hits each for Wheeling (5-10, 2-6), and Brenden Spillane drove in 2 runs.
Palatine 11, Conant 2: It was tied 2-2 after the fourth inning, but Palatine pulled away with a 5-run fifth and a 4-run sixth.
Greg Grana drove in 2 runs for the Pirates (11-8-1, 4-2), and Zach Serna doubled and had 1 RBI as junior Alex Piszczek earned the pitching decison.
Dan Urban and J.T. Peacock doubled for Conant (0-12, 0-6), which comitted 6 errors.
Prospect 10, Hersey 6: The visiting Knights got a double from Jackson Wrede, a triple from A.J. Compton and a homer from Kevin Joyce to outslug Hersey.
The Knights (3-11, 2-7) scored in each of the final six innings, finishing with 12 hits, and overcame 5 errors. Welby Malczewski got the victory after allowing 2 earned in 5 innings with 5 strikeouts.
Hersey, which got 2 hits from David Milligan, dropped to 6-12 overall and 4-4 in the league.
St. Viator 4, Marist 1: Greg Steiner earned the decision as host St. Viator (11-9, 5-3) prevailed in East Suburban Catholic Conference play.