Huntley's Jakubowski savors 300th career win
Huntley's 7-run seventh inning at Hampshire on Tuesday not only lifted the Red Raiders a 10-7 win, it secured coach Andy Jakubowski's 300th career coaching victory.
Jakubowski, 42, began his 16-year career as a head coach at Rockford Boylan in 1998, and he led Jacobs from 1999-2003. He spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Elgin Community College before taking the reins at Huntley in 2006.
Through Tuesday, Jakubowski's career record was 300-237-2 (. 557 win percentage). In 10 seasons at Huntley, he has led the Red Raiders to a 205-120-2 record (. 630), three regional titles and a fourth-place finish in Class 4A in 2010.
"I guess it means I'm getting old," the 42-year-old said of the milestone. "It was pretty cool. It's a nice mark, but it shows you we've had the privilege of coaching a lot of kids from Boylan to Jacobs to Huntley now who have bought into a system and done the things that we ask them to do. And we've been successful from it. It's a nice honor to have, but it's more about the kids who have put the time and effort in."
The comeback win against Hampshire was Huntley's third victory in 4 outings, improving its record to 4-8. Win No. 299 for Jakubowski came Saturday in Aurora when the Red Raiders defeated Waubonsie Valley 5-2 in a nonconference game. Waubonsie Valley is led by first-year coach Bryan Acevedo, a 2001 Jacobs graduate who played for Jakubowski.
"He's just one of those people whose passion for the game spreads and rubs off on their players," Acevedo said of his mentor when he was named Waubonsie Valley varsity coach last fall.
Charging forward: Dundee-Crown dropped a 1-0 decision against Hampshire on Monday at Judson University, but that loss hasn't tarnished an otherwise strong start. Entering Wednesday's game at Grayslake North, the Chargers were 9-5 overall, 3-1 in Fox Valley Conference crossover games.
We've been playing really well," senior Jared Ludwig said. "The fundamentals are there. The games we've lost it's usually because a couple of mental mistakes are throwing us off. I think we'll take care of those by the end of the season."
The Chargers have outscored four FVC Fox Division opponents 30-6, however, they are 3-4 against Mid-Suburban League teams, including a 10-4 loss to Barrington. D-C coach Jon Anderson was an all-area shortstop at Barrington in the mid-1990s before he played for the University of Illinois and spent three seasons in the Boston Red Sox minor league system.
Keough stepping up: When Waubonsie Valley's Garret Howicz stole home to score the winning run in the top of the eighth inning of a 2-1 victory over South Elgin on Tuesday, the play overshadowed yet another strong pitching performance by Storm right-hander Max Keough (2-1).
A senior committed to Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Keough lasted all 8 innings against the Warriors. In a 103-pitch performance he held them to 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits, walked 3 and struck out 8. Waubonsie Valley had been averaging 7.2 runs per game.
In 20 innings this season, Keough has yielded only 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits, walked 5 and struck out 16, good for a 0.70 ERA and 0.55 WHIP.
"Max pitched very well," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said Tuesday. "I was happy with what he did. I was happy with him changing pitches and locations."
Strike out cancer: The baseball programs from Hampshire and Woodstock North are again joining forces to raise money for people affected by cancer via their second annual "Strike Out Cancer" game on May 16 at 10 a.m.
Once again both Fox Valley Conference Fox Division teams will wear K Cancer T-shirts in conjunction with the Jason Motte Foundation.
A unique aspect of this game is the lack of aluminum. Both teams will swing wood bats from the Hoosier Bat Company created in the 20 colors of cancer awareness. The public will be able to participate in a silent auction to acquire any of the 20 cancer awareness bats, according to a release from the Hampshire baseball program.
After the teams meet on Friday, May 15, they will reassemble at Buffalo Wild Wings in Crystal Lake to take part in the annual "Bat Draft," during which each team takes turns picking bats to be used in the next day's doubleheader.
For a donation of at least $10, individuals can have the name of a loved one affected by cancer placed on a wooden plaque shaped like a baseball, which will be hung on the purple backstop for viewing throughout the game.
Silent auctions will be held every inning for a variety of items and donations are encouraged.
Individuals or businesses interested in ordering plaques or making donations to the Jason Motte Foundation can contact John Sarna at Hampshire High School, 1600 Big Timber Rd., Hampshire, 60140. Or send to Woodstock North High School to the attention of Ian Rago, 3000 Raffel Rd., Woodstock, 60098.