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Baseball: Cary-Grove rallies past Prospect

It was the classic example of hustle paying dividends.

Ryan Ignoffo's infield single produced 2 runs as Cary-Grove rallied for 3 runs in the seventh inning in a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Prospect in a nonconference baseball game in Cary Tuesday afternoon.

"I just wanted to make contact," said Ignoffo. "This team has great spirit and will never quit. It was an exciting win."

Ignoffo, who pitched a scoreless seventh, also picked up the win.

In the pivotal seventh, Justin Trausch led off the inning reaching on an error. Trausch moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice fly from Ben Baruth.

Zach Willis' RBI single sliced Prospect's lead to 2-1 which set up Ignoffo's heroics.

"The infield is very hard so if you make contact there is a chance to get on base," said Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland. "We did a nice job in the seventh of putting the ball in play. We didn't give up which is a very good sign."

Sutherland was also pleased with the pitching efforts of starter Quinn Priester and relievers Mike Eleftheriou, Tom Neilson and Ignoffo.

Priester, a sophomore, didn't allow a run or hit in 3 innings of work.

Priester, mixing an overpowering fastball with a sharp breaking curveball, struck out 6 with 3 walks.

Eleftheriou, in relief of Priester, allowed a run on 1 hit in 2 innings on the mound. He struck out 2 with 1 walk while Neilson gave up a run on 2 hits in an inning with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Ignoffo struck out 1 in an inning of work.

The Trojans' (2-0) foursome combined for 11 strikeouts and 4 walks.

"At this time of the year we are limiting our pitchers to 3 innings and 45 pitches," said Sutherland. "All four kids today pitched very well. We have great pitching depth and won't push our kids early in the season."

Prospect (0-1) scored first in the fourth on a run-scoring single from Nick DeCapri and added an unearned run in the sixth.

Three pitchers worked for the Knights. Ben Courtney shutout Cary-Grove in 2 innings of work on 2 singles while John Czseslowski blanked the Trojans in 2 innings on 1 hit with 2 strikeouts.

Mack Malczewski, the losing pitcher, retired all 6 batters he faced in the fifth and sixth.

"It was a disappointing loss but I am very proud of the kids," said Prospect coach Ross Giusti. "All three pitchers pounded the strike zone and were outstanding. We played a very good opener against Cary-Grove, which is a state caliber team."

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