Huntley claims first regional title since 1987

Woodstock pitcher Garrett Gee looked like a whiz through four innings of the Class 4A Huntley regional baseball championship against the host Red Raiders Saturday.

His prowess from the mound, whether preventing Huntley (30-6-1) from scoring through four innings, or, his 2-run blast in the first off Huntley's Tanner Funke, had a sub .500 team on the brink of a prodigious upset.

The Red Raiders, who have loved to score runs in bunches throughout this season, fulfilled that trait in the fifth inning, when Craig Lipp's 2-run homer captivated a 4-run inning, giving the Red Raiders their customary big inning and a 4-3 victory over Woodstock (15-22). It is Huntley's first regional championship since 1987.

The Red Raiders advance to the DeKalb sectional, where they will play on Thursday against Cary-Grove, which upended Prairie Ridge for the PR regional title Saturday.

"I told our guys in the fifth we're going to catch up," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. "I couldn't be prouder of our guys to overcome adversity. It's a great job."

Trailing 3-0, Nate Sopena's leadoff walk sparked the rally for the Raiders. Up until then, Gee was efficiently getting Huntley hitters to ground into fielder's choices and double plays. With one out, Lipp, who walked and flied to center his first 2 at-bats, crushed Gee's pitch up and inside, a 2-run homer to right, inching Huntley within a run.

"He threw me an inside fastball. I like to jump on the first pitch fastball," said Lipp. "That was just a huge boost for us."

Bolstered, Huntley then paired a Chris Klein single and a walk to Funke. After a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, Zach Liebman's single past the diving second baseman up the middle capped a 4-run inning, giving the Raiders the lead.

"I think we were just waiting for our big inning," said Lipp, who hit his ninth home run of the season.

Funke retired the last 6 batters to get the win. Over 7 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, striking out eight and walking just one.

"I was pretty happy with his effort," said Jakubowski. "He settled down after the third and he was lights out the rest of the way."

After Gee crushed Funke's curveball, Woodstock went ahead 2-0 in the first. A then focused Funke gave up just 2 hits and a sacrifice fly, allowing his teammates to look forward to next week.

"We haven't won a regional in a while. It's a great feeling for all of us and we want to keep this feeling going on," said Lipp.