Roundup: Cook County

Not even a 101-degree fever could stop Barrington's Tom Unak from taking the mound Monday afternoon.

The senior right-hander allowed just 1 run in 4 innings and worked his way out of a couple of early-inning jams while pitching the Broncos (1-0-1) to their first victory of the 2009 baseball season, a 10-3 nonconference triumph over host St. Charles East (0-1).

"It was tough because I have been a little under the weather," said Unak. "It was tough to go out there but most of it is mental. You just have to think about every pitch you throw.

"I feel a little better now after the win."

St. Charles East struck first, pushing a run across in the bottom of the first inning as leadoff hitter Rob Wendt singled, stole second and scored on Zach Scott's sacrifice fly.

But the Saints wasted scoring opportunities the next two innings, as Unak (1-0) induced a bases-loaded groundball for the third out in the second and recorded back-to-back strikeouts with runners on second and third in the third.

Infield errors had allowed St. Charles East's leadoff hitters to reach base in the second and third innings.

"Tom did a great job of pitching out of some jams that weren't his doing," said Barrington coach Jim Hawrysko. "We didn't play good defense today (5 errors) but he didn't allow many runs early in the game.

"Later on, we got some guys on base and we got some good hits and some hits that found the right openings."

Saints southpaw Kyle Wiebe (0-1) retired the first 7 batters before the Broncos took the lead for good with a 2-run fourth.

Evansville-bound Johnny Day laced a 1-out single - the Broncos' first base hit - and swiped second before scoring on an infield error to tie the game at 1-1. One batter later, senior catcher Chris Holke's RBI single put Barrington on top 2-1.

Holke, who went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI, had another RBI single during the Broncos' 5-run fifth that made it 7-1.

"I struggled a little bit my first at-bat but after that I was looking fastball and protecting against off-speed," said Holke. "That was my approach today and it worked."

Holke's 2-run bloop single in the sixth extended the Broncos' lead to 9-3.

"Chris did a great job at the plate of not trying to do too much - just putting the ball in play," said Hawrysko.

Wiebe, who allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits with 3 strikeouts through 4 innings, ripped an RBI double during the Saints' 2-run fifth. But St. Charles East also had a pair of runners thrown out at the plate in the inning and left 11 runners on base.

"What they did is what we weren't able to do - and that was take advantage of mistakes," said Saints coach Mark Foulkes. "In the second and third innings, we just couldn't get the hit that could've put them away for a day. And in the fourth and fifth (innings), they took advantage of our mistakes a little bit.

"Overall, it's not the start we wanted but there are just a couple things to tweak and we'll be OK."

Elk Grove sweeps S. Elgin: Elk Grove (3-1) pulled away to a 7-1 win and came back for a 5-4 victory in a nonconference doubleheader with visiting South Elgin.

Josh Daniels threw a complete-game 2-hitter with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks in the 7-1 win. Donny Duschinsky went 4-for-4 and Justin Kaczynski was 3-for-4.

Kaczynski appeared to be headed to a tough-luck loss in his start as he didn't allow an earned run and had 7 strikeouts and no walks in 7 innings.

But the Grens rallied from a 4-0 deficit after 51/2 innings. They scored 2 runs in the sixth and tied it in the seventh on a single by Carl Sugihara (2-for-3), a double by Colin Semler and a 2-run double by Kaczynski. Danny Lopez won it with a bases-loaded, two-out bunt single.

Schaumburg 7, Cary-Grove 5: Kyle Meyer allowed only 1 earned run and 6 hits with 5 strikeouts as Schaumburg won its nonconference opener. Matt Mistrata, Shawn O'Neill and Chris Kelly (2 RBI) each had 2 hits and a double and Joe Dombek had 3 RBI.

BG, Maine South split: Buffalo Grove rebounded from losing its opener 8-2 with a 12-4 win as Jeff Grybash got his first victory as a varsity head coach.

J.P. Kulick went 3-for-4, Tommy Ricciardi was 2-for-4 with a double and 4 RBI and Matt Stadler and James Hurley went 2-for-4 for BG in the victory.

Highland Park 5, Palatine 4: Dan Haze went 2-for-4 and drove in 2 runs in a 4-run fifth but Palatine (1-1) couldn't erase a 5-run deficit in the nonconference home loss. Byron Skinner went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Mike Luschen also went 2-for-4.

Palatine didn't score with the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth and runners at second and third with one out in the sixth.