Baseball: Prospect wins MSL East opener at Elk Grove

Even though it was the opening game of the Mid-Suburban East baseball slate, Prospect coach Russ Giusti still knew that the conference title goes through Elk Grove.

"Elk Grove has done it the last three years," Giusti said. "They battle until the end."

Fortunately for Giusti, so did his Knights as they held off host Elk Grove 2-1 Tuesday in a pitcher's duel.

"Both the kids pitched a tremendous ballgame," Giusti said. "(Ben) Courtney did a great job for us and we made some routine plays, and stepping up, making the play when you have the opportunity."

Courtney went the distance to outduel Elk Grove's Brett Taucher.

"It felt good out there," said Courtney, who allowed 4 hits while striking out eight. "I was trying to establish sone tone by throwing first-pitch strikes. The guys behind me also backed me up so it was a good win."

Courtney (2-1) matched Taucher through the first 4 innings as both pitchers allowed just 1 hit while striking out six. Both also stranded a runner a third in the second inning.

Prospect (4-5, 1-0) broke through in the top of the fifth thanks to a pair of hits that had eyes.

Ryan Roggeman led off the inning with a high pop single that dropped in just behind short. He was bunted over to second by Anthony Catalano and scored on a sharp single to right by Nick Ergostolo that just eluded the Elk Grove defender.

Elk Grove (4-5, 0-1) tied it up in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, the Grenadiers got back-to-back doubles by Tyler Selvig and Ryan Uehara.

Prospect came right back in the sixth.

With one out, Nick DeCapri and Grant Zellmer both singled. After a strikeout, Catalano lined a double down the left-field line, scoring pinch runner Adrian Perez to make it 2-1.

"I was great to get the bunt down, because I have been working hard on that," Catalano said. "I knew if that I could get a fastball I could turn on it. And I was able to do that for the hit."

Prospect then turned in a pair of unique double plays to preserve the victory.

In the sixth, Elk Grove had runners on first and second with one out. Ryne Singsank, who had doubled earlier, drilled another shot to left. Knights left fielder Richie Baczek made a sweet catch and then fired back to second to double off the runner.

In the seventh, Elk Grove had a runner on first with one out. Courtney struck out the batter and Ergostolo followed by throwing out the runner at second to end the game.

"That was a great way to end the game," Ergostolo said. "I was so happy to get that hit earlier. Ben Courtney was doing a great job on the mound and I knew he needed some runs."

Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna said he was disappointed with the outcome.

"Both teams were very similar," Beyna said. "The pitching on both sides was pretty good. They got the one big hit that made the difference."

Beyna was looking forward to playing Prospect again on Wednesday.

"We will get back at them tomorrow," Beyna said. "We will try to work for a split and go from there."