Rare start for Wruck turns into CL South win
The Crystal Lake South baseball program's all-time leading fireman is used to extinguishing flare-ups at the end of a game, but Josh Wruck put out the fire before it could get out of control in a rare spot start at Jacobs Wednesday.
Wruck, who holds the school record with 10 career saves, made the most of his first starting nod since his sophomore year. The senior held the Golden Eagles to 6 hits in 5 innings and the Gators capitalized on 8 Jacobs errors to win 14-3 in six innings in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division game.
"We knew they were a good pulling team, so I tried to stay away," said Wruck (1-1), who notched 5 strikeouts against 1 walk. "I got the ball in a little bit in the first couple of innings but stayed away after that. They kept rolling it over and popping out, so it worked out."
The win gave Crystal Lake South (16-10, 10-6) a split of the 2-game series against Jacobs (13-12-1, 7-9). The Golden Eagles won the series opener 3-0 on Monday.
"I thought we bounced back well," CL South coach Brian Bogda said. "We had a better approach at the plate today, and I thought Josh did a nice job on the mound. It was huge for him to step up. He doesn't' normally start, but we were able to ride him for 5 innings. And we took care of the baseball, which was a key to today's game with the weather."
Errors played a large role in the outcome: CL South played error free, whereas Jacobs committed 8 miscues, including 3 errors in both the first and third innings.
"We had some key moments where we made some crucial mistakes and the gates opened up," Jacobs coach Eric Sanders said. "(Wruck) came out and pitched pretty well. He got in a little trouble in the first inning, then got in a groove, calmed down a little bit and started stopping us."
The Gators jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Billy Wright and Chris Hauser drove in runs with singles and Robbie Lemke supplied a run-scoring double.
The Golden Eagles answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning on 4 hits against Wruck, highlighted by Ben Albano's 55th RBI of the season on a laced single up the middle. Wruck went on to throw 4 scoreless innings and allow only 2 more hits.
The Gators broke the tie in the third inning with 4 runs on 3 hits against Jacobs starting pitcher Greg Leasure (4-3), who allowed 2 earned runs in 41/3 innings.
CL South added a run in the fifth inning and put the game away with a 6-run sixth. Easton Kowalski smacked a 2-run triple and Wright added a 3-run triple - both to the right-field corner - to fuel the outburst.
"After our game (Monday), we wanted to come out and stick it to them and show them we should have played better than we did," said Wright, who went 3-for-3 with 2 walks and 4 RBI. "We came out and swung the bats the way we can, the way we should have in the first game."
Junior Brandon Seiser retired Jacobs in order in the sixth inning to seal the win for CL South.
The rivals will meet again in a Class 4A Jacobs regional semifinal on May 27.