Wright turn lifts Conant

Barrington didn't get a chance to see Austin Wright last season.

The Broncos got a good look at the Conant senior left-hander in Wednesday's Mid-Suburban West baseball opener.

They liked what they saw -- from a perspective of respect and admiration in a game moved to Barrington's Kirby Smith Field because of unplayable conditions at Conant.

Before nearly 20 pro scouts, Wright (1-1) allowed his only hit with two outs in his sixth and final inning. He had 10 strikeouts and 3 walks and hit a 2-run homer in a 5-0 victory by Conant (2-2).

"He's maturing -- he really is," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko. "He's in the zone more and throwing more than 1 pitch. He's become a real good pitcher."

Barrington (4-5) senior Jack Golek broke up Wright's no-hit bid when he lined a 3-2 fastball for a single to left. Wright left runners at second and third when he speared Gus Handler's one-hop shot on his 108th and final pitch.

"His off-speed stuff keeps getting better every time I see it," said Golek, who has played with and caught Wright since they were 12. "He's one heck of a pitcher."

Wright gave up 2 of his walks to start the game and went to 3-2 on Russ Zeisloft. But a strikeout started a stretch where he retired 12 consecutive hitters.

He also showcased more effective changeups in his arsenal as he pitched around a leadoff error in the fifth and allowed his other walk with one out in the sixth.

"He's definitely maturing and he had his secondary pitches going today," said Conant coach Jerry Song.

"I used all my pitches and coach and I are on the same page," said Wright, whose fastball hit 90 mph. "If he called it I was ready to throw it.

"I worked all winter on my pitching and I have a lot of confidence in my stuff. And I know the 'D' is behind me out there."

It kept Wright's no-hit bid alive. Third baseman Jeff Vercillo made a nice play on a tough chopper by Johnny Day in the third.

And in the fourth, second baseman Bobby Colucci ranged behind the bag up the middle to get the lefty-hitting Zeisloft by half-step.

Colucci's legs also gave Wright the only run he needed as Barrington senior righty Ryan Nolan's tough luck continued. Colucci walked and came around on a nice read on a pitch in the dirt, a grounder to first by Mark Chereso and Bill Charvat's sacrifice fly.

"Their pitcher did a great job of keeping us off-balance until the sixth," Song said.

Otto Linderman and Wright had the only hits the first 5 innings as Nolan had 7 strikeouts. Chereso started the sixth with a single, went to third on a wild pitch and bad throw and scored on Charvat's bloop RBI single over a drawn-in infield.

Tom Unak came on and Wright deposited a first-pitch curveball over the fence in right-center. And Wright said he wasn't thinking about a no-hitter as Derek Wojcik came in and had 2 strikeouts in a perfect seventh.

"I was just trying to go out and throw strikes," Wright said.

That's what Conant wants to see.

Prospect 11, Meadows 3: Alex Lazarz needed only 78 pitches to throw a complete-game 6-hitter as Prospect (3-5) opened defense of its MSL East title with the win at Rolling Meadows (1-3).

Lazarz had 5 strikeouts and no walks and hit a batter. The senior righty was backed by errorless defense.

Prospect broke it open with a 7-run fourth as Griffin Rebecca (3-for-3) and Tim Scanlan had 2-run singles and Kevin Krohm had an RBI single. Andrew Cardona had an RBI single in the third.

Kyle Gaedele hit a solo homer for Meadows.

Wheeling 5, Hersey 2: A 3-run first helped Wheeling (1-2) equal its MSL East win total of last year as Steve Slussar beat Hersey (5-3) with a complete-game 3-hitter.

Slussar had 9 strikeouts and 8 walks and didn't allow an earned run. Steve Yfantis had a 2-run double in the first and Matt Holmes was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

BG 6, Elk Grove 1: Tom Moran threw a complete-game 4-hitter for Buffalo Grove (3-1) in the MSL East win at Elk Grove (2-6).

Moran had 4 strikeouts and 2 walks. Chris Delaney got 2 of his 3 RBI on a two-out single in the fifth to give BG a 4-1 lead.

Mike Ricciardi and James Hurley were 2-for-4 with RBI singles. Cody Glickman's double set up Elk Grove's only run in the fourth.

Palatine 7, Hoffman 2: Steve Reis (1-0) threw a complete-game 5-hitter with 9 strikeouts and 1 walk for Palatine (2-9) in the MSL West win over visiting Hoffman Estates (2-3). Mike Luschen had 2 of the Pirates' 5 doubles and Matt Wieber was 2-for-3.

Schaumburg-Fremd, ppd.: Unplayable field conditions at both sites postponed the MSL West opener.

Soccer

Elk Grove and Prospect don't have a big number of wins this season, but they put on a show worthy of two teams in the same division.

They didn't have to, however. This year the Mid-Suburban League is counting East and West contests together, meaning the teams will have 11 results in the conference instead of five.

With neither team giving up, Wednesday's game ended in a 2-2 double overtime tie.

Prospect (2-1-1) has only been able to get in four games, all four of them conference contests.

Elk Grove (1-4-2) had a slight advantage in the first half, but Prospect ended up the first forty minutes with a 1-0 edge thanks to a goal with 10:50 remaining by Susi Lello off a throw-in from Alex Moxley.

"The first half, I wasn't pleased with the way we played, but we scored a goal," said Prospect coach Tom Froats.

"The first 20 minutes of the game, we were in their end most of the time," said Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus. "We had some decent chances on free balls. Both teams had their chances."

Prospect came out strong in the second half, and that netted the Knights' their second goal. Rachel Lenke took a free kick from the right side. The ball rebounded in the box and was volleyed into the net by Moxley.

That goal was scored with 10:14 to play. Twenty-seven seconds later, Emily Stanke cut the lead in half.

The game was then tied when Rachel Sloan worked her way downfield, made a cut to the left, and shot the ball into the lower left corner of the net.

-- Kathy Rudolph

Other matches: Alex Her and Ariana Foster goals led Fremd past Schaumburg 2-0 … Eileen Zydek, Jackie Drees and Rosie White scored to give Julia Fredian her sixth shutout as Hersey (7-2-1, 2-1) beat Wheeling 3-0 … Jessie DaPisa's 25-yard free kick in the first half gave Rolling Meadows (2-3, 1-0) a 1-0 win over Buffalo Grove … Megan Boecher's first-half goal gave Palatine a 1-0 win and Conant (6-1-1) its first loss.