Baseball: Bartlett comes from behind to beat Rolling Meadows
The Bartlett baseball team was only nine outs into an eventual 8-6 comeback victory over Rolling Meadows on Tuesday and senior Cameron Mays' previously clean, white, home uniform was already caramelized.
The speedy center fielder got his front dirty sliding into third base with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first inning, part of a 4-for-4 performance that included 3 runs and 2 RBI.
In dramatic fashion, Mays added grass and dirt stains to his left side and his back in the top of the second.
Rolling Meadows had already scored 3 runs against Bartlett junior right-hander Brandon Kendall to take a 3-1 lead and was threatening for more with the bases loaded when No. 3 hitter Ryan Laboda sent a deep flyball toward the right-center gap. Mays got a great jump, sprinted to the spot and made a full-out dive in front of the warning track to record the third out and save 3 runs.
"I needed to put myself out there and keep us in the game," said Mays, his voice hoarse from a spring cold.
"That got me pretty hyped. It got the rest of the team hyped, too," Bartlett first baseman Mike Prang said of Mays' catch. "I think that was the big turning point."
Prang's own hero turn came in the fifth inning with Bartlett (2-0) trailing 6-4. Facing Rolling Meadows' Opening Day starting pitcher Trent McNally, Prang, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound left-handed hitter, pulled a bases-loaded single to right field to drive in the tying runs in the forms of Jake Flint and Mays, each of whom had singled to ignite the rally.
"I stayed back on it and really got a good line drive," said Prang, who finished 2-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI.
Senior Matt Johnson followed with a line drive to left field that scored Austin Hilvert from third to stake the Hawks to a 7-6 lead. They added an insurance run in the sixth on Mays' RBI single.
Bartlett junior closer Ryan Temesvary punctuated the nonconference win by striking out the Mustangs' 4-5-6 hitters to notch the save.
The comeback made a winner of senior relief pitcher Scott Palmer (1-0). The right-hander took over with Bartlett trailing 5-2 with one out in the third inning and two runners aboard. He recorded consecutive strikeouts to end that threat and went on to retire 11 of the 13 hitters he faced, allowing 1 run in 3⅔ innings.
"It's tough coming in the middle of the game for your first outing, but I came in feeling good," said Palmer, who said his most effective pitch was his breaking ball. "I just wanted to get my stuff on and keep them off-balance. I'm glad I got out of it."
There were some positives for the Mustangs, who managed 6 runs on 9 hits, led by senior center fielder Luka Pavlakis (3-for-3, double, 2 RBI), McNally (2-for-3, walk, 2 doubles) and senior designated hitter Alex Renzy (2-for-4, run). However, the offense was undermined by defense: the Mustangs committed 5 errors.
"Everybody's going to make errors but we made some bad errors," Rolling Meadows coach Jim Lindeman said. "We gave them some extra bases and allowed them to score a few extra runs. I thought we were aggressive at the plate and put some solid at-bats together, but they changed pitchers and we didn't make the adjustment. He was a different type of pitcher and had us off-balance the rest of the game."