Cary-Grove win puts Valley in 3-way tie

The Cary-Grove baseball team's quest for a three-peat hit full stride at Petersen Park in McHenry Monday.

The two-time defending champion Trojans entered the contest against first-place McHenry locked in a three-way tie for second in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference, just a game back.

Three hours later they boarded the bus back to Cary tied for the division lead after battering four McHenry pitchers for 19 hits in a 12-2 victory that completed a 2-game sweep.

"Coach always tells us that Dundee-Crown is the only team that won a three-peat championship, so we really want to get this done," said Cary-Grove senior third baseman Stu Gaulke, who went 4-for-5 and scored 3 runs. "We really want to get coach (Don Sutherland) the second three-peat."

The win by Cary-Grove (19-11, 14-6), combined with Huntley's 10-9 victory over Crystal Lake South in eight innings, forged a three-way tie for first place between Cary-Grove, McHenry and Huntley with 4 games to play.

Cary-Grove came out swinging and put up 6 runs in the first inning on 6 hits and an error. With one out, the Trojans smacked 4 straight singles to take a 1-0 lead against previously undefeated McHenry starting pitcher Joe Feilen (4-1). Matt Panek then drilled a 2-run double to the right-center field gap, another run scored on an error, Nick Richter singled to drive in a fifth run and Chris Waylock's sacrifice fly made it 6-0.

McHenry (19-9, 14-6) could not muster a comeback against Panek (4-2), Cary-Grove's starting pitcher. The junior left-hander held the Warriors to 2 earned runs on 3 hits in 42/3 innings. He struck out 9 but walked 7, which forced him to leave the game in the fifth inning after 107 pitches.

Panek left with an 8-2 lead, long after he launched a 2-run home run to left-center field in the second inning.

"We knew we had to beat McHenry today to control our destiny," Panek said. "That was huge. Everybody was really focused. The first inning - putting up 6 runs fast - it was great. It was great to pitch with the lead and great to see a great team attitude out there."

Junior lefty Grey Bozeman held the Warriors in check for the final 21/3 innings, allowing 2 hits against 6 strikeouts.

In addition to big days by Gaulke and Panek, the Trojan offense was paced by multihit games from Steve Mihalik (3-for-5, double, 2 runs), Eric Chandler (2-for-4, 3 runs), Michael Vilardo (2-for-5, RBI) and Steve Hapanovich (2-for-5, RBI).