Streamwood overtakes Elgin
The upset-minded Elgin baseball team was in command through three innings at Streamwood Monday, but things spun out of control quickly due to the lack of control demonstrated by four Elgin pitchers.
The Maroons combined to walk 11 Sabres and they hit six batters with pitches, more than enough free baserunners to fuel host Streamwood’s come-from-behind 14-6 victory in the Upstate Eight.
Elgin starting pitcher D.J. Riggio stranded 6 baserunners in the first three innings to keep the Maroons ahead 3-1, but the Sabres (16-2, 10-2) erupted for 5 runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-3 lead. They added 5 runs in the fifth and they answered Elgin’s 3-run sixth with 3 more of their own.
“We have the mentality it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We have seven innings,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. “It’s disappointing we left some guys on early swinging at some bad pitches, but that’s part of the game.
“(Riggio) pitched well for 3 innings, then with our patience the bats came alive. Then we got into their bullpen and that was key.”
The Elgin pitching staff did its best under trying circumstances.
“We battled,” coach David Foerster said. “We are a little thin with a lot of games last week, and we used a lot of arms over the weekend. We’re just trying to find arms right now, and we’ve got injuries here and there. We’re just trying to battle through it right now as best we can and hope we play our best.”
There were some key basehits in Streamwood’s consecutive 5-run outbursts, like a 2-run single by Alex Morrow, a pair of run-scoring singles by Nate Pearson (3-for-5, 3 runs) and an RBI basehit by Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle (1-for-1, 3 walks, hit by pitch).
Another noteworthy performance came from Tim Cohen, Streamwood’s returning starting catcher. He played his first game of the season after undergoing foot surgery and went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and a 2-run double. His extra-base hit to the fence in right-center field gave the Sabres an 8-1 lead in the fifth inning.
But the key to the game was Streamwood’s ability to get on base without hits. For instance, 6-foot-6 senior Bobby Post was hit by pitches in each of his final 3 at-bats.
“I know I’m a big target, but ... hey, I’ll take it,” he said. “I’ll take the base.”
Post (2-0) was also the winning pitcher, though he hadn’t expected to pitch the 5 innings he turned in. Post entered the game in the third inning in relief of left-handed junior Dalton Lundeen, who allowed 3 earned runs on 2 hits and walked 3 in 2 innings before he was pulled.
Post limited Elgin to 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits in 5 innings.
“I was told last week I may have to come in and pitch this week,” Post said. “(Diversey) never told me I’d come in, but I was always ready to go out there.”
Streamwood took a 1-0 lead when Riggio hit Larkin-Guilfoyle with a pitch to drive in a run.
Elgin answered with a 3-run second inning, sparked by Jake Meyer’s line-drive home run over the fence in left-center field that tied the game 1-1. It was the first varsity home run for Meyer, who went 2-for-4.
“We were hanging with them for most of the game, but they had that one big inning,” Meyer said. “One big inning seems to kill us every game.”
The Maroons slipped to 2-14-1 overall, 2-11-1 in the UEC River. They return to action today against Geneva at 4:30 p.m. Streamwood welcomes Larkin, also at 4:30 p.m.