Mahler makes the most of opportunity

Dropping down in the lineup would be a downer for some players.

Schaumburg senior center fielder Steve Mahler knows what it's like to be down from being out of the lineup. After starting as a sophomore, Mahler missed nearly all of last season with a broken finger.

Going from leadoff to the No. 7 spot in the potent Saxons' lineup didn't bother Mahler. In his second game there he went 2-for-2 with 2 walks, a bases-clearing triple, a stolen base and 3 runs scored in a 13-3 win over Prospect in 6 innings.

Mahler was hitting .457 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 14 RBI and 8 stolen bases through 16 games.

"Last year was a big bummer," said Mahler, who did come back to homer for the Saxons in their Mid-Suburban League title win at Prospect. "This year is my last year and I want to make something of it. So far it's been great."

Mahler played with Schaumburg in the summer and for a Top Tier travel team. He said he hit almost every day in the off-season and has received a lot of help from working with hitting coach Steve Hayward.

And the lineup switch with junior shortstop Dave Compitello moving to the top of the order has benefited the Saxons and Mahler.

"Coach (Paul Groot) did it so I would see more fastballs and it's a good move," Mahler said. "'Comp' and I are both pretty much the same kind of guys. We have speed and put the ball in play."

Suspended animation: Prior to 2001 the MSL replayed suspended games in their entirety on the next available open date. Now they're picked up where they left off, which can lead to a sudden-death extra inning style of baseball.

"You hope in a suspended game you get that first out and shut them down a little bit," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko after his team picked up a 1-1 tie with visiting Rolling Meadows in the 10th inning last Thursday.

But Kyle Gaedele jump-started the Mustangs with a double and after three lightning-detector delays of 90 minutes they kept going with a 6-run inning and held on for a 7-5 victory.

"I was pretty happy when Kyle led off with a double," said Meadows coach Jim Lindeman. "That's what you hope happens. I was really proud of the way we came out with a lot of energy."

Kevin Serna's 3-run double turned out to be more than just extra padding since Barrington rallied in the bottom of the 10th.

"All the delays got repetitive but we were still able to concentrate through it," Serna said of trying to close the gap with East-leading Prospect. "We knew this was a must-win game for us."

And even though Barrington didn't win it was encouraged by the response to suddenly facing a 6-run deficit with only 3 outs to play.

"I thought it was over and they fought hard," said Meadows' junior Pat Conlin after having to come in with the bases loaded and 2 outs to save his own victory.

"We did everything we needed to in the last half-inning to win the game," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko.

"No one was trying to do too much," said Barrington senior Steve Janezic, who had a 2-run single in the 10th. "Everyone was trying to win for the team and that's what we need."

And Elk Grove and Palatine picked up the bats after leaving with nothing on the scoreboard after 5 innings in their suspended game. Both teams broke the shutout in the eighth and combined for 8 runs in the 11th as the Grenadiers won 6-4.

"We are playing better," said Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna after his team's ninth win in 12 games. "I still think there are things we can tighten up but you can't argue with the results."

Barrington and Elk Grove will experience another suspended re-start in the 11th inning Tuesday.

Hoffman marathon: A recent stretch of four 8-inning games in 10 days should be good preparation for Hoffman Estates' Baseball Marathon on May 10.

Players in the program will participate in the event from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to raise money for the Walter Payton Cancer Fund and Hoffman baseball program. All players are working on pledges and will play on the varsity field in 2½- hour increments.

Hoffman coach Todd Meador is also looking for former members of the baseball program to participate in an alumni game at 3:30 p.m. They can contact Meador by e-mail at tmeador@d211.org or by phone at (847) 755-5816.

And Meador laughed about the extra-inning preparation his Hawks have. The largest margin of their 7 wins through Tuesday was 4-1 over St. Charles East.

"We still have to find that killer instinct," Meador said of blowing seventh-inning leads in its extra-innings games. "When we've got a team down we have to add on and keep the pressure on and not let them back up.

"Once we figure that out I'd like to think we'll win games 5-1 and not 6-5 in 8 innings."

Senior Eric McGinnis has wound up with two tough no-decisions after strong starts in 8-inning games.

"He was just outstanding," Meador said after McGinnis went 6¿ innings against Buffalo Grove. "There were only a couple of innings where he was really threatened.

"He usually runs out of gas around 75-80 pitches but he threw 103. We need a pitcher to go out and give us innings."

And Mike Eisele is giving the Hawks a power boost. The senior hit 2 homers at Fremd and won the BG game with a solo shot in the eighth.

"He reached out and extended his arms and it went 350 feet," Meador said. "He's just really a strong kid with good hand-eye coordination."

Here's the pitch: Through Wednesday's MSL games, 27 teams had scored in double figures and seven games had both teams in double digits. Last year's entire schedule was just 21 and two respectively.

In 2006, 36 teams hit double figures in league games but only 3 games saw double-doubles.

Nobody's perfect: Prospect was the last team to fall from the unbeaten ranks in MSL play with its loss at Schaumburg. That makes it 29 years since anyone has gone through MSL play without a loss when Barrington went 19-0.

The only other team to get through an MSL schedule unscathed was Wheeling in 1969. Buffalo Grove came close in 2002 when it won its first 15 before losing the conference finale to Elk Grove.

Squeeze plays: Libertyville will now host the Class 4A sectional originally scheduled to be at Lake Zurich ... Schaumburg and Joliet Catholic will play for the title of the eighth annual Schaumburg Flyers High School Baseball Classic at 5 p.m. Thursday at Alexian Field ... Schaumburg and Barrington will also play at Alexian at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday ... Meadows' Jon Carlson and Pat Conlin have saved their own wins this year. A big comeback saved Elk Grove starter Donny Duschinsky from a loss and he ended up saving an 8-inning win at Hoffman Estates ... Leyden has a key series in the West Suburban Gold race when it hosts a Saturday double-header and hits the road Tuesday against Downers Grove South ... The MSL resumes division action Monday with key matchups of Meadows at Prospect in the East and Schaumburg at Fremd in the West … St. Viator stole 11 bases in the second game of its sweep of St. Joseph -- Eric Huber had six and Eric Walantas had four … Barrington holds its fifth annual ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease fundraiser with players collecting donations throughout the community Saturday.