Baseball: Lang, Crystal Lake South nip Larkin
Whether to pitch ace Kyle Lang against Larkin in a quarterfinal game Tuesday or save him for a possible matchup against top-seeded Barrington Wednesday was the decision Crystal Lake South baseball coach Brian Bogda had to make.
Bogda said the decision was easy.
Bogda gave the ball to his dependable senior Tuesday and it paid dividends.
Lang, who blanked eighth-seeded Larkin on 1 hit for six innings, gave up a run on 2 hits in the seventh and the No. 7 Gators held on for a 2-1 win over the Royals in an opening round game of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South regional.
The defending Class 4A state champion Gators will play Barrington in a semifinal contest Wednesday at 4 p.m.
"I couldn't sleep if I wouldn't have pitched Kyle today and we would have lost," said Bogda. "I have too much respect for a team like Larkin who plays in the tough Upstate Eight Conference. It would have been unfair to the kids. We knew we had to beat Larkin and if we would win we would worry about Barrington tomorrow. Kyle was fun to watch today. He was terrific. He mixed his pitches well and threw strikes."
Through the first six innings, Lang allowed just a single while striking out 5 without a walk.
Trailing 2-0 going into the seventh, Larkin's (9-18) first two hitters, Jackson Reuter and Andy Bonnot, reached on singles to put runners on first and third with nobody out. Reuter scored on an infield grounder by Max Anderson for the Royals' only run of the game.
"Larkin hit some good pitches in the seventh to score their run," said Lang. "My curveball was really working and I like the movement on all my pitches. Coach Bogda told me last week I was going to pitch the first game of the regionals and I really started preparing myself and made sure I was ready to go. The postseason is a different season and it is always nice to win the first one. ''
The Gators scored the only 2 runs they needed in the second keyed by an RBI single by Scott Skwarek, who was 2-for-2 in the game.
Anderson, a junior, was the hard-luck loser for the Royals. In six innings, the Larkin lefthander allowed the Gators 2 runs on 4 hits. He struck out 2 with a walk.
"At the beginning of the season Max was one of three pitchers we thought could be our number one pitcher," said Larkin coach Matt Esterino. "Max went out and took the number one spot and we have him back next year. He was outstanding against the defending state champs. "
Esterino liked the way his team battled.
"We are in a very tough conference and South showed us respect by pitching their ace," said the Larkin coach. "We battled until the end and had good at-bats in the seventh. It was an awesome effort by our guys."