Baseball: Barrington tops Prospect for MSL title
It was worth the wait for Barrington and coach Pat Wire.
The Mid-Suburban League baseball title game had been delayed by weather since last Friday, but the Broncos patiently came back to roll past host Prospect 8-2 Monday.
It was the first overall conference title for Barrington coach Pat Wire, whose Broncos had lost the title game the past two years. The wait - and the weight of having come so close - are history.
"I think there were a lot of animals on my back, but I'm glad they are off," said Wire, whose team also lost in the title matchup four years ago. "But as I said before, each Barrington team is different. It is all different games, and all different years. It doesn't matter. I am happy for those kids over there."
Barrington (27-7) got timely hitting from Eric Kozlowski, Will Yorton and Jeff Korus and strong pitching from Brooks Gosswein and Yorton in winning the program's first MSL title since 2005.
It didn't appear early that it would go the the Broncos way.
Brooks Gosswein, who started the game for the Broncos struggled mightily in the first inning.
Gosswein, who will play at Bradley next season, threw 30 pitches in the first inning. Prospect (17-11) was able to parlay a pair of walks, a hit batter and error into a run as Rich Baczek scored for the Knights to make it 1-0.
"I struggled in the first inning a little bit," Gosswein said. "I had to make some adjustments because of the weather. But once I did, I settled in."
Helping Gosswein settle in were the 3 runs that Barrington struck for in the top of the second.
The two-out theme began for the Barrington that inning. The Broncos scored all 8 of their runs after two were out, which frustrated Prospect coach Russ Giusti.
"That was the tale of the day," Giusti said. "We came up short. We did not make the play when we had to. We let them off the hook, and they put up some big innings."
With two out in the second, Barrington loaded the bases on a hit, a walk and a hit batter. Eric Kozlowski then scored on a wild pitch, Clark Elliot plated on a balk and Justin Walker scored on a throwing error to give Barrington a 3-1 lead.
With his team giving him some breathing room, Gosswein went to work. The senior kept Prospect at bay over the next 4 innings, scattering 3 hits.
"That's the best part of what experience is," Wire said. "He has been in this situation before. Most important is that he calmed himself down and found a little bit of rhythm."
Gosswein got more insurance in the third.
Yorton singled to lead off the inning, but the Knights got two quick outs. Sean Davis then singled and Kozlowski followed with 365-foot homer and suddenly it was 6-1 Broncos.
"It was great," said Kozlowski, who had 2 hits on the day. "It gave us some momentum. It was great, because our whole lineup was hitting."
Barrington added a run in each of the next two innings to open up an 8-1 lead.
Korus doubled in the fourth with 2 outs and was singled home by Yorton. Tyler Acosta reached on an error and scored on a two-out single by Elliot.
"It felt good out there," said Korus, who had 2 hits. "Hopefully I can keep that going through the playoffs."
Prospect had a chance to climb back into the game in the sixth after Gosswein left with 100 pitches.
The Knights loaded the bases thanks to 3 consecutive walks. Yorton came in to strike out the next two batters. He then yielded a walk to Baczek but got the final out on a flyball.
"I cake prepared to throw today," said Yorton, who had 4 strikeouts. "They wanted me to get me ready for the playoffs, and this situation helped me a lot."
Both Barrington and Prospect next jump into the state playoffs, which began Monday.
Barrington will play Larkin on Wednesday at the Jacobs regional. Prospect will be back in action on Thursday against Glenbrook North at the Warren regional.
"Both teams had to deal with the adversity of their pitchers with the state playoffs in mind," Wire said. "I really like the way it is set up. It puts us in a spot where Ryan (Loutos) will pitch on Wednesday."