Streamwood's Brauer hits 14th HR in split with South Elgin
Double plays can be a pitcher's best friend.
They certainly were Saturday for South Elgin's Brett Huisman.
The Storm turned 4 double plays in 3-1 victory in the first game of an Upstate Eight Conference baseball doubleheader against Streamwood.
"You can't pitch without defense. It has to be there," said Huisman, who picked up his third victory. "It's the best I've thrown in a while. All my pitches were working."
The Sabres earned a split with an 11-5 win in Game 2.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the first in the opening game, Huisman got Dylan Noncek to ground into a double play to end the inning and the threat. Huisman also got a groundball double play from Matt Cohen to end the second. After a throwing error to open the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Kiesel hit a hard line drive at second baseman Jake Toppel, who then doubled off Shawn Jordan from first. Another line drive double play, also off the bat of Noncek, with two on and no outs, helped Huisman get out of the sixth.
Huisman went 6 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run. The senior right-hander walked two and struck out six.
"Brett threw probably the best game he's pitched all year," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said. "He was consistent around the plate. When he throws like that and we get some run support, he's tough to beat."
The Storm (12-11-1, 9-9-1) got single runs in the second, third and fourth innings off Josh Harris. Brandon Stevens, Drew Buddle and Chad Meado each had 2 hits in the game for South Elgin.
Streamwood (13-10-2, 11-6) got its lone run on an RBI double from Tim Cohen.
"We're not playing within ourselves right now," Sabres coach Steve Diversey said after Game 1. "We kind of got into a funk (Friday) and it hasn't seemed to go away. Hopefully we can snap out of it."
The Sabres broke out of that funk quickly in the second game. After Kiesel singled to lead of the bottom of the first, Brian Brauer hit the first pitch he saw for a 2-run home run to center field. They got two more in the second and five in the third to take a 9-2 lead. In the 5-run third both Brauer and Matt Cohen had 2-run doubles.
Brauer went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, the second a solo shot in the fifth, and 5 RBI. Cohen also went 3-for-4 and drove in three. Brauer now has 14 home runs on the season, tying him for all-time Fox Valley-area record set by Larkin's Json Richardson in 1999.
The Storm hit 4 solo home runs off Sabres pitcher Tim Martin, who earned the victory. Charlie Sobo homered twice and also drove in a run in the fourth with a single. Daniel Kogut and Chris Ciccone also homered.
Martin threw a complete game, allowing 9 hits. He walked two and struck out four.