Scouting the Class 4A Larkin sectional
Class 4A Larkin sectional
Matchups: Hononegah (28-6) vs. Huntley (26-9), Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.; South Elgin (20-13) vs. Cary-Grove (25-12), Thursday at 4:30 p.m.; Winners play for the sectional title Saturday at 10 a.m.
Outlook: Huntley overcame the graduation of its top three pitchers and its leading hitter from last season to win a share of a division title in the Fox Valley Conference and its second straight regional. The Red Raiders decimated opposing pitching at the Jacobs regional, beating Larkin 21-1 and Crystal Lake South 11-1. Pitchers Chris Klein (6-4) and Jeremy Ahillen (7-1) picked up wins in regional play. Huntley seeks its first sectional title. Hononegah, two-time champion of the NIC-10, makes its sixth sectional appearance, all since 2001. The Indians have reached four straight sectionals and seek their first title. Hononegah defeated Boylan 6-1 to advance behind winning pitcher Jake Lanning (11-1). Huntley expects to face Hononegah's Valparaiso-bound right-hander. 6-foot-2 Ryan Scarpetta (8-2), who tops out between 86-88 mph, according to Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski. "We'll try to get his pitch count up and try to get into their bullpen," Jakubowski said. "On the offensive end we'll focus on getting our leadoff hitter on base, getting him over to second and getting some opportunities to get him home." The Red Raiders aim to minimize their strikeout total and put the ball in play against Scarpetta, who struck out 10 in a 6-0 regional semifinal win over Harlem.
Cary-Grove seeks its third sectional title in five seasons and second straight. The Trojans finished fourth in Class 4A last season and return starters Eric Chandler (catcher/left field), Chris Waylock (shortstop) and Stu Gaulke (third base). Junior pitching helped carry C-G to a share of its third straight Valley Division title in the Fox Valley Conference. Kevin Weber (8-0) and Matt Panek (6-2) each dominated regional games. South Elgin won its first postseason game in its fourth season by coming from 4 runs down to beat Dundee-Crown in a regional semifinal, 6-5. That was nothing. Trailing 12-2 to Streamwood in the title game, the Storm roared back to win 13-12 on Dillon Gardner's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. South Elgin lost seven straight games to end the regular season against good competition but found a way to rebound and reach a sectional for the first time. "We're just solid," Storm coach Jim Kating said. "We're not anything spectacular, but if you give us a chance, we'll beat you. We didn't play bad baseball the last two weeks of the season, we were just on the short end of the stick." Senior shortstop Drew Buddle picked up pitching wins at the regional as a starter and reliever to improve to 5-3.
Cary-Grove and Huntley split two games during the regular season. South Elgin and Huntley were scheduled to play on April 3 but were postponed by rain.
Advancement: The winner of the Larkin sectional will play the winner of the St. Charles East sectional in the Rockford (RiverHawks Stadium) supersectional on Monday, June 7 at 7 p.m. Teams competing for the St. Charles East sectional title include St. Charles North, St. Charles East, Wheaton North and Lake Park.