Crystal Lake South upends No. 1 Jacobs
Crystal Lake South baseball coach Brian Bogda realized the task of beating host Jacobs, the No. 1 ranked team in the Daily Herald's Top 20, with Golden Eagles' ace Brenden Heiss on the mound would be a challenging one.
The eighth-year Gator boss didn't need to worry.
Spearheaded by a 6-run sixth inning, South was able to stave off a late-inning Jacobs rally and post an 8-5 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win in Algonquin Monday.
"We have faced some outstanding pitching this season which prepared us for today's game against Heiss, said Bogda. "Facing (Dan) Denz last week when we played (Dundee-Crown) was a good test for us. We had good at bats and good approaches at the plate. We laid off the high pitches and had good swings. This was a big win against a very good team."
The Gators (16-2, 7-1) struck first with 2 runs in the third inning courtesy of an RBI single by John Constantino and a run-scoring double by Garrett Bright.
Jacobs (18-4, 8-1) sliced the lead in half with a run in the fourth on an RBI double from Oren Oreskovich.
The Gators chased Heiss in the sixth. After an error and 2 walks, Jacobs coach Jamie Murray relieved Heiss with Evan Liebau.
Crystal Lake South gave Liebau a rude welcome.
A sacrifice fly by Matt Schingel, a 2-RBI single by Mike Swiatly, and RBI singles from Andrew Swiatly and Constantino helped produce 6 runs and an 8-1 lead.
"I was looking first-pitch fastball and swung at good pitches," said Mike Swiatly. "Everybody hit today."
The Golden Eagles didn't give up and scored 4 in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Oreskovich, Mike Addante and Nate Meland along with a run-scoring double from Steve Krueger.
"Brenden has been sick and lost 14 pounds and willed himself to pitch," said Murray. "He is a competitor and pitched with a lot of guts. Credit South, they played a great game. My kids could have packed in when we were down 8-1. We kept fighting and battling."
It was pitching by committee for the Gators.
Constantino pitched the first 3 ⅓ innings to earn the win. He struck out 2 with 2 walks.
Tyler Carlson pitched 1⅔ and Michael Avella hurled the final 2 innings for South.
"They have a good hitting team." said Constantino. "I just want to keep their hitters off stride."