Unexpected pickoff lifts Huntley to victory
Huntley relief pitcher Nick Costantino's strike to end Wednesday's 4-3 victory at Crystal Lake South was fired in the opposite direction of home plate.
With the potential tying run on third base and the winning run on second in the form of a courtesy runner, Costantino heeded coach Andy Jakubowski's call from the bench for a backdoor pickoff play at second.
The right-hander wheeled and fired a perfect strike to shortstop Matt Sullivan, who drifted in behind the runner and applied the tag to end the game, leaving the Gators stunned.
"Nick made a great throw. It was pinpoint," Sullivan said through a wide grin. "We practice that all the time. Nick had great timing. All I had to do is block the base and we got him out."
The Red Raiders knew what their coach was up to.
"Right before that (Jakubowski) walked out to the mound and said, 'Look for it. It's going to be coming,' " Costantino said. "He called it right away and we got him."
The pickoff kept CL South (8-8, 5-6) from working more two-out magic at the plate. The Gators grabbed a 2-1 lead on Dakota Siwula's 2-run single with two outs in the second inning, and they tied the game 3-3 in the third on Michael Avella's RBI single with two away.
"It's a tough, tough, tough way to lose it," CL South coach Brian Bogda said. "I would have liked to have seen our kids swing the bat and get a chance there, especially because we already had a couple of two-out hits. I would have liked to have seen us get one more. Everyone was kind of focused on the hitter. The backdoor play there was unexpected."
The pickoff earned Costantino his first save of the season and sealed the win for sidearming pitcher Adam Kalish, who won his second straight start since being converted from closer. He improved 2-0 with 4 saves. Kalish struck out four without a walk and held the Gators to 3 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits over 6 innings.
Huntley (14-4-1, 8-2) executed well offensively throughout. The Red Raiders scored three times when they put a runner at third base with less than two outs, thanks to a run-scoring single by Mark Skonieczny and RBI groundouts by Sullivan and Bobby Hecker.
Huntley's biggest hit of the game came in the top of the fifth. After CL South starting pitcher Josh Smith (2-2) intentionally walked Skonieczny to put runners at first and second, cleanup hitter Anastasios "Tommy" Kiriakopoulos sent a 3-0 pitch back up the middle to score Dillon Dell'Aquila with what proved to be the game-winning run.
Kiriakopoulos said he was expecting the take sign with a 3-0 count because Jakubowski had already flashed it to two different hitters in that inning.
"But he gave me the green light," Huntley's first baseman said. "(Smith) gave me a couple of curveballs in the dirt and I worked a 3-0 count. Then he left a fastball high and tight in the zone. I saw it, got my foot down early, made the adjustment and took it right back up the middle."