Hoffman 18, Conant 17

Hoffman Estates sophomore Chris Fett crumpled to the ground in exhaustion near first base after his 90-foot sprint at the end of a three-hour baseball marathon Wednesday.

Fett's dash avoided a potential double play grounder to shortstop to end the bottom of the seventh inning as David Ehlers scored the winning run for Hoffman in a bizarre 18-17 Mid-Suburban West victory over visiting Conant.

"I looked at the umpire and he gave the safe sign," Fett said of beating the relay by a half-step. "I was like, 'Finally.'"

So were a lot of other people as one the craziest MSL games in years saw Hoffman (3-4, 1-2) put up its runs on just 7 hits with gale-force winds blowing out to right field at nearly 35 mph.

And it had only 2 hits en route to its first 12 runs -- a first-inning grand slam by Fett and a solo shot by his senior brother Jake in the second inning off Conant ace Austin Wright.

"Now all three Fetts have homers off him," Jake said of twin brother and third baseman Alex's blast last year.

Paul Roszyk was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI as Conant (3-4, 2-2) had 17 hits and hit 4 homers.

Chris Hoffman went 3-for-4 with a 3-run shot and a grand slam. Wright hit a 2-run shot in the first and Bill Charvat's solo homer in the sixth broke a 16-16 tie.

But the Hawks got 6 runs in the third without a hit in the highest-scoring MSL game since Wheeling beat Fremd 21-14 in 1997.

"I told the kids in the middle of the game, it was one of those games that the team that stays mentally strong the longest was going to win," said Hoffman coach Todd Meador, whose team scored just 13 runs in its first 6 games. "It had marathon written all over it from the first inning."

Both offenses seemed to hit the wall as the last 3 innings turned into a pitcher's duel.

Conant lefty Scott Hojnacki came in and gave up a 2-run double to Mike Norman and a 2-run single to Jake Fett to tie it at 16-16 in the fourth. But then Hojnacki got five straight hitters and six of the next eight on strikes.

"He did a good job," said Conant coach Jerry Song after his team issued 12 walks and committed 6 errors. "But it was ugly."

Fett came on in relief in the third and gave up 8 runs and 4 walks his first 2 innings.

But Fett allowed a run on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts and no walks in the last 3 innings. A 1-2-3 seventh was crucial with darkness approaching.

"That gave us even more momentum," Fett said. "When I got up to bat I was all fired up."

Fett stayed back on a changeup and doubled past the third-base bag to start the seventh. Ehlers walked and 2 wild pitches tied the game.

After Matt St. John was intentionally walked, Chris Fett's sprint gave his older brother the victory.

"The intensity was very high for both teams," Jake Fett said. "I think we had more fight at the end and had the momentum on our side."

Having three Fetts on its side was also big for Hoffman.

Barrington 13, Fremd 12: Barrington (6-6, 2-2) rallied to score 6 runs on just 2 hits in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the MSL West win.

Steve Janezic (3-for-4) and Tom Unak had the RBI singles. Fremd (4-2, 1-1) gave up 5 walks -- including one to Russ Zeisloft with the bases loaded to tie the game.

And the last of 3 wild pitches to score runs in the seventh gave Barrington its first lead and the victory.

Anthony Brignola, Jack Golek and Gus Handler had 2 hits each for the Broncos. Nick Addison went 4-for-5 with 5 RBI, Mike Tauchman was 3-for-4 and Ryan Shober and Anthony Concialdi had 2 hits each for Fremd.

Fremd had come back from a 4-run deficit to beat Prairie Ridge 10-8 on Tuesday as Jason Ford hit 2 homers and had 3 RBI and Shober was 3-for-5 with a homer, double and 3 RBI.

Prospect 8, Elk Grove 2: Dominic Pugliese needed only 88 pitches for a complete-game 6-hitter with 5 strikeouts and no walks for MSL East leader Prospect (6-5, 4-0).

Jason Leblebijian (3-for-4) had a two-out, 2-run single in the fourth for a 6-1 lead. John Coen and Miles Osei had 2 hits apiece for the Knights.

Kevin Miller and Matt Martinski went 2-for-3 for Elk Grove (5-8, 1-3).

Schaumburg 11, Palatine 1: Lefty Andy Brandt (3-0) allowed only a first-inning run as MSL West leader Schaumburg (7-1, 3-0) scored in double figures for the sixth time in the 5-inning win.

Brandt scattered 5 hits and had 5 strikeouts and no walks. Dominick D'Agata hit his third homer in 2 games and had 2 RBI, Steve Mahler homered, doubled and had 2 RBI and Mike Mistrata was 3-for-3 as the Saxons broke it open with a 9-run fourth.

Jeff Emerich was 2-for-2 for Palatine (2-12, 1-3).

Buffalo Grove 6, Hersey 1: Seth Parker threw a 4-hitter with 9 strikeouts and allowed his only 2 walks in the seventh for BG (4-3, 2-2) in the MSL East win.

Evan Kander and John Bakun went 2-for-3 with solo homers, Chris Delaney was 2-for-4 with a 2-run double and Mike Ricciardi was 2-for-4 for BG.

Tom O'Shea homered for Hersey (6-6, 1-3).

Meadows 9, Wheeling 6: Wheeling (2-4, 2-2) was an out away from getting out of the top of the fifth inning with a 2-1 lead.

But junior Dan Lauria's 2-run single put Meadows (3-4, 2-2) up 3-2 and sparked a 6-run outburst. Jon Carlson had a 2-run double and Ben Sabal had an RBI single.

Kyle Gaedele was 2-for-2 with his third homer in four games and Garrett Cannizzo went 2-for-2 for Meadows. Winner Scott Hempel allowed 7 hits and was backed by errorless defense.

Steve Slussar continued his hot hitting for Wheeling as he went 4-for-4 with 4 RBI.