Hoffman Estates sweeps Elgin
Saturday marked the end of a very busy week for the Hoffman Estates and Elgin baseball teams.
Both playing their sixth and seventh games in six days, the Hawks ended the week successfully. The Maroons’ struggles continued.
Hoffman swept a doubleheader, 7-6 and 9-6, over the Maroons at Trout Park in Elgin.
“It’s been a long week,” Hawks coach Todd Meador said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games and, obviously, it’s nice to be on the winning end of that.”
The Hawks (12-13) went 6-1 during the six-day stretch with the only loss coming Thursday against Palatine. They continued their climb toward .500 after an 0-6 start to the season.
Elgin (2-20-1) went winless and has now lost 15 straight games.
The Maroons started Saturday’s opening game well. Javier Cardenas hit his first home run of the season and Lee Jackson doubled and scored in the bottom of the first for a 2-0 lead. The Hawks took the lead in the fifth, scoring five times. Kevin Grudzinski, Kevin Tednes and Jimmy Ward had run-scoring hits. Trent Rehusch added a 2-run double for a 5-2 lead.
Hoffman added a pair of runs in the sixth on a wild pitch and an RBI double from Tednes.
Shaquille Hayers singled and Cardenas hit a two-run home run to start the bottom of the seventh. Jackson doubled and scored two batters later on a groundout. Andrew Higdon doubled with two outs before Ward got a groundout to end the game and earn the save.
“It’s encouraging,” Maroons coach Dave Forester said of the rally. “We just dug ourselves too big a hole in both games.”
Ethan Bloom earned the victory in his first start of the season. The freshman right-hander allowed 5 runs (three earned) in five innings. DJ Riggio (0-4) took the loss, going six innings and allowing seven runs (six earned).
In the second game, the Hawks jumped on Elgin starter David Penaloza (1-4), who did not get out of the first inning. Hoffman sent 11 batters to the plate, getting six hits, a hit batter and a walk. Bloom, Rehusch, Brian Cvitkovich and Grudzinski had RBIs and Jordan Loikits had a 2-run single. Grudzinski, who went 5-for-7 on the day, homered in the third for a 7-0 lead.
Elgin rallied again. The Maroons scored twice in the third and fourth times in the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Hoffman added an insurance run in the each of the sixth and seventh innings to complete the sweep.
Jordan Hudak, also making his first start, picked up the win. He threw four innings and allowed two runs.
“Our pitching has been really solid and our bats kind of woke up this week a little bit,” Meador said. “We’re doing a lot of good things right now as a team.”
Cardenas went 4-for-8 on the day with the 2 home runs. He scored 5 runs and drove in four. Jackson, who pitched in both games, went 6-for-8 with four doubles. He scored 3 runs and drove in two.
“They are our two leaders,” Forester said. “They’re both three-year varsity players. Both are great kids. They work hard. We need them to lead us offensively.”