Elk Grove hangs on against Prospect

It wasn't pretty, but Christian Camacho and Elk Grove's baseball team will take it.

Elk Grove took advantage of 5 Prospect errors and watched as Camacho, who had thrown 6 very strong innings, held off a furious Knights rally for a 6-5 victory Monday in Elk Grove.

With the victory, Elk Grove (15-6, 8-2) was able to claim sole possession of first place in the Mid-Suburban East while ending a two-game slide for the Grens. Prospect (18-6, 7-3) will host Elk Grove on Wednesday.

Despite it being a battle for first in the East, both teams played sloppily at times. They combined for nearly as many errors (7) as there were hits in the game (9). Both teams also had 4 runners thrown out, with 2 caught stealing and 2 picked off.

"It wasn't a completely clean game on either side," Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna said. "There are always mistakes on both sides.

"They are a good team and we are a good team. Wednesday is a big game regardless of today's win."

Camacho had Prospect in check for most of the game. The junior right-hander, who improved to 6-2, gave up a run in the fourth when Luke Karz drove in Pat Donohue, who'd singled to lead off the inning.

"I thought I pitched pretty well today," said Camacho, who allowed 5 hits, while striking out five. "They are a good hitting team, so I tried to keep them off balance. I missed a couple of spots at the end and they took advantage of it."

Elk Grove answered in its half of the fourth. Camacho singled and was on base when Brandon Post homered to left to put the Grens up 2-1.

"It felt great," Post said. "I got a good pitch to hit and I made a good swing on it."

Elk Grove appeared to have broken open the game in the the fifth thanks to a pair of throwing errors by Prospect.

Jack McEnroe singled with one out and was replaced by pinch runner Ryan Uehara. Austin Shallcross reached on a two-out infield error, with Uehara moving to third. Uehara was able to then score on a wild pitch.

After Matt Wary walked, the second error of the inning allowed Shallcross and Wary to score to make it 5-1. Camacho, who had reached on the error and advanced to second, scored on Chuck Fleming's sharp single to center.

Camacho, who had retired seven straight heading into the 7th inning, got in trouble quickly in the Knights' final at-bat.

Prospect scored 2 quick runs thanks to a walk, a single, an error and a wild pitch. The Knights loaded the bases with two outs and Donohue drilled a single to center, driving home Ryan Molini and Jack Courtney. But Camacho regrouped to get a comebacker to end the game.

"Every run is important," Beyna said. "We knew that they would play to the absolute last pitch and last out, and sure enough, it came down to that."

Prospect coach Ross Giusti said that his team needs to play better defense if it wants to have an opportunity to draw even with Elk Grove on Wednesday.

"We had a very poor display of defense today," Giusti said. "When you gift-wrap 4 runs like that, it is tough to overcome.

"Elk Grove is a solid and fundamental team. We expect to come on Wednesday with a little more energy."