Baseball: Elk Grove is in its element at Libertyville
On paper, this looked like a good one.
From Elk Grove came pitcher/shortstop Christian Camacho. He was fresh off an 18-strikeout performance on the mound, and headed for a pitching future at Auburn.
The home team on this Saturday was Libertyville. Slugger and three-sport standout Ben Kimpler was clearly on a hot streak. He had fallen a double short of a cycle in one game, and in a three-game spurt had delivered 4 homers.
Instead, it just rained all day at Libertyville.
And when Wildcats pitcher Ryan Cote fell off the mound from all the wetness and mud, the umpire called this game in the top of the sixth.
However, it was a complete game. The Grenadiers (14-6) scored 2 runs in the fifth and went home with a 7-6 rain-shortened, nonconference victory.
"It was kind of sloppy,'' said Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna. "It was a nonconference team so I wasn't going to burn out our pitching."
The pitching matchup centered on Elk Grove's Brett Taucher and Libertyville's Caleb Haddon. Both juniors threw well early. However, by the fourth inning, both had absorbed 4-run frames.
Libertyville (13-7) had a pair of doubles in the big third inning as Kimpler stayed hot with a 2-run double.
"It was just wet, but it was cold out there,'' Kimpler said. "I just concentrated on seeing the ball."
Rising prospect Trent Jean positively crushed a pitch to right that nearly left the yard. His booming double drove in Kimpler with the fourth run. This rally had started innocently enough when no one in the Elk Grove infield collared Brian Murphy's routine pop fly.
Elk Grove answered right back. Winning pitcher Joe Lopez chased everyone home with a screaming double. His 3-run smash knotted this game up at 5-5. Left fielder Luke Radtke singled and scored in the frame. The other two runs came on a hit-by pitch and a walk.
Libertyville coach Sean Ferrell didn't have much time to plot strategy. Instead, he was too busy raking both the pitcher's mound and the area around home plate.
After the Grens tallied twice in the top half of the fifth, the Cats clawed back in the home half of the fifth. Daniel Marks had the lone hit of the frame. But with the water rising, Elk Grove decided to intentionally walk both Jack Petersen and Jean. The final out came on Brant Kym's fly to right.
The game, despite the elements, went on to the sixth. Camacho had his second hit and the Grens again threatened to score. Finally, the umpire decided it was clearly too dangerous to play.
Elk Grove had 2 hits each from Chuck Fleming and Jack McEnroe. Murphy had 2 hits for the Wildcats.