Cary-Grove's offense explodes vs. Huntley

There was certainly no power shortage in Cary Monday afternoon.

With 10 extra base hits, which included 3 home runs, 6 doubles and a triple, Cary-Grove slugged its way past Huntley 15-2 in a 5-inning Fox Valley Conference Valley Division baseball game.

"We swung the bats well against Dundee-Crown Saturday and really hit the ball well today," said Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland. "We are hitting 1 through 9 in the lineup and getting clutch hits."

The Trojans (18-6-2, 10-1) seized control of the game with 4 runs in the first and 4 more in the second in taking an 8-0 lead.

The power surge started early as Wyatt Mascarella launched a 2-run homer off losing pitcher Brandon Altergott in the first inning. Matt Sutherland collected an RBI single and Connor Leach delivered a run-scoring single as the Trojans led 4-0 after one at-bat.

Cary-Grove kept the offensive pressure on in the second keyed by a solo homer from George Hartke, a 2-RBI double by Jim Perkins and a run-scoring double from Tyler Pennington.

The Trojans, who pounded out 18 hits in the contest, also got a solo homer from Pennington in the fourth.

With all nine hitters in the lineup collecting at least 1 hit, the Trojans were paced by Sutherland (3 runs scored, 4 RBI), Pennington (HR, 2B, 3 RBI) and Mascarella (HR, 2B, 3 RBI) with 3 hits apiece.

"It was a great day to hit," said Mascarella. "I was able to get the ball into the jet stream and hit it out of the park."

Also joining in the hit parade for the Trojans were winning pitcher Larkin Hanselmann (3B, 2 runs scored) and George Hartke (HR, 2B, 2 runs scored) with 2 hits each.

Working with a huge lead, Cary-Grove got a solid effort on the mound from Hanselmann, who gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in 5 innings. The hard-throwing left-hander struck out 9 with 1 walk and a hit batter.

The Red Raiders (7-20, 3-9) scored their only runs in the third on a 2-RBI single by Jeff Heinrich.

"This is the best hitting team we have seen since early in the season when we faced Prospect," said Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski. 'They really squared up on our pitches and hit the ball hard."

Kaneland 9, Burlington Central 2: Jake Johnson and Ryan Anderson had 2 hits each for the Rockets in a nonconference loss to Kaneland at Judson University. Kyle Creadon took the loss on the mound for BC (21-6).

Kaneland 5, Westminster Christian 3: Luke Weston hit a home run and Adam Greene had 2 hits for Westminster (14-15-1) in a nonconference game also played at Judson. Nic Angiulo took the loss for the Warriors.