Baseball: Pitching-rich Barrington subdues Prospect

Barrington's Jake Zyzda tossed down the gauntlet to his baseball teammates Blake Gosswein and Ryan Loutos.

Zyzda blanked his second opponent in a row Friday as his Broncos bested previously unbeaten Prospect 8-0 in a Mid-Suburban League crossover game.

Zyzda, who threw a complete game 2-hit shutout last Saturday, followed up with a three-hit, 6-inning performance on Friday. Blake Swanson came on in the seventh inning to pitch the final inning for the Broncos.

"I was down in the zone today and I thought I had a good pace," said Zyzda, who fanned 10 and threw 84 pitches, 54 for strikes. "I got ahead and kept it simple. I didn't make it any more difficult that it had to be."

And with Gosswein throwing a 1-hit shut out last Monday against Conant and Loutos rolling with a 3-hit shutout on Wednesday, Barrington's front three are playing their own game of 'Who can top this?'

"I went 2 hits last week and Blake one-upped me by throwing a 1-hitter," Zyzda said. "And then Ryan comes back and throws a 3-hitter. But it is the zeroes - that's what counts for all of us."

Barrington coach Pat Wire likes to see those zeroes up on the board.

"This definitely makes it worth being able to build the depth we have," Wire said. "I'm happy with these guys and their efforts. But we know we have a war ahead of us."

Barrington (10-3, 3-0) battled hard early Friday. The Broncos scored 3 runs in the first, 2 in the second and 3 in the third to give Zyzda plenty of breathing room.

"We came out great with tremendous energy," Wire said. "We came off a tough loss on Thursday to Jacobs and put it behind us. I thought we carried that momentum and it paid dividends for us."

Barrington banged out 10 hits and was led by Zack Balogh, who had 2 hits, including a double, and an RBI. Tyler Acosta also had 2 hits and 2 runs scored. Patrick Denhert had a 2-run double, Jimmy Day had a 2-run triple and Jeff Korus walked twice and scored each time.

"I was trying to hit the ball in the gap," said Day, whose triple in the first got the Broncos moving. "I was just doing something to help the team and get us going."

Prospect (8-1, 2-1) had an opportunity in the first inning when it had a pair of runners on base with two outs. But Zyzda got a groundball to Day at third to end the threat.

"It is baseball," Prospect coach Russ Giusti said. "I give Barrington credit, they were right on top of pitches.

"We have a great group of kids here and there is a lot of season left. This happens to every team that suits up."