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Roberson lifts South Elgin with arm, bat

South Elgin's Joey Roberson couldn't have scripted a better way to ingratiate himself to his new team.

A transfer from Bartlett, the junior not only earned the win on the mound in a 6-2 nonconference victory at Huntley on Saturday, he set the tone offensively with one early swing of his bat.

Huntley sophomore starting pitcher Noah Konie was a strike away from escaping unscathed from a bases-loaded jam in the top of the first inning. However, after the left-hander threw two fastballs on the outer half to Roberson for called strikes, he went back to the same pitch in a 1-2 count. The lefty hitter went with the pitch and laced an opposite-field line drive to left that scored Dane Toppel and Danny Asa to put the Storm ahead 2-0.

"I took two (strikes) outside, but he gave me another one and I was going to make this one count," Roberson said.

South Elgin (3-0) went on to score 3 more runs in the inning and added a seventh-inning insurance run on Nick Menken's two-out single. Huntley (1-4) was unable to mount a comeback, despite 5⅔ innings of 1-run relief work by right-hander Jake Lonergan.

"I think we gave them six freebies that inning: 3 walks, 2 stolen bases and an error thrown in there," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. "And we called for a pick play that could have gotten us out of the inning but didn't. (Roberson) did a nice job with a two-strike approach of taking the ball the other way and they marked early."

On the mound, Roberson, a 6-foot, 190-pound left-hander, used a good curveball to hold the Red Raiders to 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 4 in 5 innings, though he said he didn't have his best stuff.

"We haven't had a chance to take a look at him because of the weather," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said. "He struggled a little bit in the beginning with his control and kind of got it back in the last couple of innings. And he came up with a real good, clutch hit to get the rally going in the first inning. I'm real proud of him."

Konie was taken down after 1 inning after he was touched for 5 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and 2 walks. Other than Roberson's 2-run single, the Storm first-inning rally was fueled by junior Mitch Butvilas, who also singled on a 1-2 pitch with two outs to drive in courtesy runner Patrick Soderquist and Kevin Barry to make it 5-0.

"It was great considering the last 2 games I played my bat was a little cold," said Butvilas, who went 2-for-3. "This game I just relaxed at the plate, I found my pitch and I took it."

Any thoughts of a late-inning Huntley comeback were scrapped by South Elgin reliever Ryan Weiss. The 6-foot-4 right-hander retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh to earn the save. He struck out 2.

The 5-run hole was too deep to dig out of for Huntley, which has been outscored 30-8 in its 4 losses.

"We've been behind in 4 out of our 5 five games," Jakubowski said. "We have to do a better job of putting up a zero in the first inning. For us, we need to get a lead and keep adding on because we're not a team that's built to come back from a big (deficit)."

  Huntley's Pierce Albright reaches for a ball but can't hold onto it as South Elgin's Michael Cipriani slides safely into second base at Huntley Saturday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  South Elgin's Kyle Hays scoops up a shot by Huntley's Joe Rizzo to throw him out at Huntley Saturday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  Huntley's Jake Lonergan backhands a shot by South Elgin's Daniel Asa to throw him out at Huntley Saturday. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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