Trautwein, Barrington take showdown with Rosman, Fremd

Even the cold weather couldn't tamp down these flamethrowers.

Fremd's Mack Rosman and Barrington's Wyatt Trautwein, two of the Mid-Suburban West's top pitchers, went head to head Wednesday in Barrington, firing strikes in droves.

But it was a shot by Barrington's Jake Coon that help lift host Barrington past Fremd 4-3.

"We all did well," Trautwein. "We battled the conditions, but the sun came out at the end and we got a win."

Trautwein, who improved to 4-1, struggled early in the game. But the senior, who is headed to Bradley next year, got stronger as the game went on. He allowed 6 hits, fanning four while throwing 104 pitches, 66 of which were strikes.

"I was a little wild at first," Trautwein said. "I had to blow on my hand every single pitch. But I felt stronger at the end."

Barrington coach Pat Wire, who visited Trautwein on the mound in the first inning, was pleased with the way his pitcher performed.

"He has battled and battled and battled," Wire said. "In the end, it was a good pitchers' duel, between probably the best pitchers in the league."

Rosman was a tough-luck loser. The junior, who has committed to Northwestern, also allowed just 6 hits. He struck out 10 and threw a mind-popping 79 strikes out of his 99 pitches.

"I thought both pitchers pitched well," Fremd coach Chris Piggott said. "They pounded the zone and got their off speed stuff over. It was just a poorly defensively played game."

That poor defense had a hand in the game's first 5 runs.

Cody Patenaude led off the game for Fremd (9-8, 4-3) with a walk. He then stole second, went to third on Dylan Fisher's bunt single and scored on a wild pitch.

Barrington (17-6, 5-2) evened the score in its half of the first. Shane Yorton singled to right and went to second on an error on the next play. He then scored on Jake Coon's sharp single to center.

Fremd took advantage of two Barrington errors to push across a pair of runs in the second.

Ethan Hajdukovic reached on an error and then scored as Joe Uhrich doubled off the left field wall. Hajdukovic then scored on an error to put the Vikings up 3-1.

Barrington responded by cashing on a Fremd error to cut the lead to 3-2. Daniel Kubiuk reached on an infield error and later scored on Mitch Pfeiffer's double.

Rosman sailed along for the Vikings after that, retiring the next 9 hitters into the fifth inning.

But Yorton reached with a two-out single to right, which seemed to spark the Broncos. Jake Petersen followed with a long double to right to tie the game at 3.

"We really needed that hit at that time," Petersen said. "Rosman was throwing a great game. I have faced him forever. He is the same age as me and I finally got to him."

Coon got to Rosman as well. Down two strikes, Coon ripped a double down the left field line to score courtesy runner Nathan Quade with the eventual game winner.

"I got down two strikes and was able to catch a change up that he hung," Coon said. "I tried to keep my hands inside the ball and drive it to left."

"In the end, it comes down to getting your pitch that you get in the count, and then hitting it," Wire said. "And on our occasions, we did."