Baseball: Huntley gets past Crystal Lake South in extras
Rizzo normally bats leadoff for the Red Raiders, but Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski slid him to the fifth spot for the middle game of the pivotal 3-game Fox Valley Conference series after he'd gone 0-for-9 in his previous three outings.
Facing Crystal Lake South reliever Mark Paul with courtesy runner Chris Costantino on second base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Rizzo singled sharply to left field.
CL South left fielder Michael Swiatly picked up the ball before Costantino reached third base, but Jakubowski waved the runner anyway to force the Gators to make a defensive play. The gamble paid off. The fielder double clutched, then unleashed a high throw that sailed well above the catcher, allowing Costantino to score the winning run, Huntley's second run of the inning.
"I don't know what happened out there but coach was sending him all the way and I thought he was crazy," Rizzo said. "But it worked out."
"It was a weird, weird situation," CL South coach Brian Bogda said.
The Red Raiders evened not only the series but the conference race in the process. Crystal Lake South (26-3, 17-3) and Huntley (25-5, 17-3) are tied for the FVC lead with four games to play, beginning with Monday's series finale at South.
Huntley concludes the FVC season with 3 games against Prairie Ridge (11-18), while the Gators play 3 against Cary-Grove (21-7).
"Moving forward, we still have a goal of winning each series and that's still in place," Bogda said. "We have a big game on Monday."
The Red Raiders were fortunate to tie the game and bring Rizzo to the plate. Jeff Heinrich was on second base after his leadoff single and Noah Konie's sacrifice bunt. After a fly out to right field, Paul induced what could have been a game-ending groundball off Adam Smylie's bat to shortstop Kory Olsen. However, the ball took a bad hop and glanced off Olsen's shoulder for what was ruled an error, allowing Heinrich to score the tying run.
Crystal Lake South had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth when Griffin Bright's groundball to shortstop deflected off Heinrich right to second baseman Joe Boland on the bag. Boland threw to first base to complete the double play, but Scott Skwarek scored to break the scoreless tie.
The Gators later loaded the bases with two away, but Huntley's third relief pitcher of the eighth inning, Ethan Sund (3-0), entered and got Swiatly to line out to right field.
Neither starting pitcher factored in the decision, though both were outstanding. Huntley's Cameron Reed allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 in 7 shutout innings.
Crystal Lake South's Noah Tyrrell held the Red Raiders scoreless on 7 hits and a walk and struck out a pair in 6.2 innings. He gave way to Paul with two me on and two outs in the seventh, and Paul induced a popup that sent the game to extra innings, setting the stage for Rizzo's game-winning hit.
"Coach says in our last 7 games if we go 5-2, we have a good shot at taking the conference," Rizzo said. "(Winning) this, I think it's going to push us there. We'll rally into Monday and I think we'll get it done."