Baseball: Aguilar's home run lifts Streamwood past St. Francis

In postseason high school baseball always expect the unexpected.

Case in point is what Streamwood's Jose Aguilar did on Monday. The 3-year varsity senior had never hit a home run on any level until his 2-run blast the opposite way over the left-center field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning broke an 8-8 tie against St. Francis. It proved to be the game-winner as the host Sabres went on to a 10-8 win in opening round action of the Class 4A St. Charles North regional.

Aguilar went 2-for-3 with 4 RBI on the day.

"It felt incredible," Aguilar said. "Every game I think about how cool it would be to hit one. I really wanted it to happen today. I've just been working hard on improving my swing. I knew I made good contact with it but I wasn't sure if I got enough of it until it went over the fence."

Jesse Rico had a big game on the mound and at the plate for the Sabres. Rico came on relief and pitched 3⅓ shutout innings to earn the win. He allowed just 3 hits while striking out 6 and walking just 1. Rico also went 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and a pair of runs scored.

"I just wanted to come in and throw strikes," Rico said. "I try to keep it simple on the mound and not overthrow. As a senior this is my last game on this field and it's a great feeling to end it this way. I can't even put it into words. When Jose hit that homer I was on second base and I was just going insane when it went over the fence. This whole game is the best thing that could happen."

With a gusty wind blowing straight out no lead was safe. St. Francis twice squandered 4-run leads.

The Sabres (16-14) rallied from a 4-0 deficit with a 4-run third inning. Rico and Adam Sojda started the scoring with RBI base hits. Aguilar tied it 4-4 with a 2-run double down the right field line.

Streamwood trailed again 8-4 after the Spartans scored 4 runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Sabres answered back with 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth on a 2-run double by Rico. Then tied the game at 8-8 in the fifth inning on a 2-run homer Dominic Robles.

"We had to overcome a lot today, " Streamwood coach Ryan Lasota said. "Down four runs earlier in the year might have been too much to overcome. It says a lot about how far we have come. We just kept on fighting."

St. Francis (9-20) had 5 homers all season but hit 3 in the second inning alone. Tanner Spinks hit a 2-run blast. Zach Crescenzo and Nick Kosmetatos each had solo homers. Kosmetatos went 4-for-4 in the game. Connor Cummings added a 2-run double for the Spartans.

"It was one of those games that went back and forth and it's tough for either team lose," St. Francis coach Nick Hall said. "We have had to battle through ups and downs all year, but the kids have played as hard as they can."