South Elgin comeback topples St. Charles North
Playing top competition brings out the best in the South Elgin baseball team.
The Storm handed Huntley (10-1) its only loss in 14 innings 12 days ago.
They pushed undefeated Streamwood (12-0) to 9 innings on Tuesday before the Sabres prevailed on a walk-off single at dusk.
South Elgin was at it again Thursday against another good team. The Storm rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat visiting St. Charles North 6-4, thereby snapping a 7-game win streak for the North Stars (8-3, 4-1), who hadn’t been beaten since returning from their spring trip.
South Elgin coach Jim Kating said the high level at which his team played was a direct carry over from the back-and-forth intensity of Tuesday’s loss at Streamwood.
“I told them if we could sustain our level of play like that, then we’ll be a difficult team to beat,” Kating said.
The loss was the first in Upstate Eight Conference play for St. Charles North, which committed 5 errors by coach Todd Genke’s count.
“You can’t have more errors than you have runs scored,” Genke said. “That hurts you. I thought (starting pitcher) Josh Loynachan threw the ball great. He gave us a ton of opportunities to make plays on the infield and we didn’t make them.”
St. Charles North took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on RBI singles from Jake Smiley and David Gow. The North Stars made it 3-0 in the third when John Brodner doubled home Andrew Elliot.
South Elgin sophomore starting pitcher David Palmer (3-0) settled in from that point forward. He retired 7 straight North Stars after Brodner’s double, and his team rallied in the meantime.
South Elgin scored 3 runs in the fourth inning to tie the game and scored 3 more in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. The key play in the fourth inning was a groundball to second base off the bat of Dillon Gardner. Andrew Weedman scored on contact, and Nate Garris was also able to score all the way from second base when the St. Charles North second baseman slipped and fell before he could make a throw.
Another St. Charles North error at second base opened the fifth inning and allowed lead-off hitter John Menken to reach base. South Elgin’s Ryan Ford followed with an infield single, then Kenny Lowden drilled a double to left on a 2-2 pitch from Loynachan to stake his team to a 4-3 lead.
“I was just trying to get the bat on the ball with two strikes, anything to get the run in,” Lowden said.
Jake Buhman and Andrew Weedman each followed with RBI groundouts to up South Elgin’s lead to 6-3.
The North Stars scored a run in the sixth when Dirk Schmitt doubled home Elliot, a hit that knocked Palmer out of the game in favor of the closer, Garris.
Garris escaped further damage when he fielded a St. Charles North squeeze bunt hit right back to the mound and threw home for the tag play and the second out of the inning. Garris got out of the threat via a flyball.
Garris walked Matt Thomas to lead off the St. Charles North seventh inning, but he induced a 4-6-3 double play: second baseman Jimmy Mansfield, to Menken at shortstop to Weedman at first.
“It was a nice, easy groundball, just a routine play,” Mansfield said. “It relaxed us a lot and took a lot of pressure off our pitcher. It helped close the door. This was a really big comeback for us. We’ve been playing better than what (our record has shown). This was a big win for us.”
Following another free pass, Garris induced a flyball to earn his first save of the season.
“I’m disappointed in the result, but at least we came back and showed some mettle,” Genke said. “To have 5 errors and still have a chance in the seventh is a good sign, I guess, but I’m a little disappointed in our defense behind Josh.”
Loynachan (1-1) allowed 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits, struck out 3 and walked 2. Palmer struck out 6, walked 2, allowed 3 earned runs and 8 hits in 5 innings pitched.