Baseball: Dundee-Crown slips by Jacobs
The 2018 season has been a tough one for the Dundee-Crown baseball team.
The season got a little better Thursday when the Chargers shocked District 300 rival Jacobs 3-2 in Fox Valley Conference action in Carpentersville.
The heroes for the Chargers were a pair of sophomores.
Nick Gregory's RBI single with 1 out in the seventh scored Justin Lawson, who led off the inning with a double, with the winning run.
"I was looking for a fastball and got a high fastball I could handle," said Gregory. "Jacobs is a very good team and our District 300 rival. This has been a tough season but this was a great win."
Sophomore pitcher Nick Cuciarone, in his first varsity appearance, entered the game in relief of George Levterov with 2 outs in the fourth. In 3⅓ innings, Cuciarone didn't allow a run or hit while striking out 1 to earn the win.
"I was really nervous but my teammates and Erik (Hedmark) really settled me down," said Cuciarone. "All my pitches were working and my location was good. I couldn't ask for a better way to start my varsity career than to beat Jacobs."
D-C coach Matt Mueller praised his two sophomores.
"Nick Gregory is the guy I want up in that situation," said Mueller. "There are great pitchers on every team in the Fox Valley and Nick has never been outmatched. He never gives away at-bats and always has a good approach. Nick came in the game in a tough situation against a great Jacobs team and did a great job. He threw all his pitches and worked his pitches in and out effectively."
The Chargers (7-26, 4-19) jumped on the scoreboard with 2 runs in the first on a run-scoring single by Zach Hahn and an infield ground out by Ray Gestritch.
The Golden Eagles (17-12-1, 13-9) tied the score in the fourth with 2 runs on a squeeze bunt by Bryan Belo and an RBI single by Daniel Klein.
Jacobs wasted an outstanding pitching performance by losing pitcher Andrew Balkcom.
In 6 innings, Balkcom gave up 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 5 with 1 walk.
"I was very proud of Andrew," said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray. "He pitched a great game. Give D-C credit - they played great and deserved to win. We look to beat D-C tomorrow and win the series. With a win, we would win 7-of-8 series in the FVC for the season. That would be quite an accomplishment."
Hahn and Lawson led the Chargers with 2 hits apiece.
"These kids have shown a lot of resiliency this season so it was nice to see them to get a win against a great Jacobs team." said Mueller. "We have had leads in a lot of games and we lost those games. This win will help us with our confidence with the regionals coming up next week."