Baseball/Scouting Fox Valley Class 3A-4A postseason
Class 4A DeKalb sectional
Regional hosts: Huntley, Hoffman Estates, McHenry, Rockford Boylan
Top seeds: Huntley, Streamwood, McHenry, Boylan
Huntley regional: The question here is whether top-seed Huntley (22-9, 17-7) has regained enough momentum following a late-season slump to challenge for another state bid. The Red Raiders finished fourth in Class 4A a year ago and were cruising along this season at 19-2 until they dropped 6 straight ballgames last week, mainly due to defensive lapses. They righted the ship somewhat with 3 wins in their last 4 ballgames to conclude the regular season. “I’m happy with the fact that we’ve won 3 out of our last 4,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “I think we’re starting to play better defense. It’s coming around and we’re excited.” Huntley will open the playoffs Wednesday against the winner of Monday’s play-in game in Algonquin between No. 5 Rockford Jefferson and No. 4 Jacobs (13-18). “Whoever we get, Jacobs or Jefferson, will be a tough ballgame,” Jakubowski added. “We’re going to have to execute on the defensive end. If we do that, we’ll be OK.” No. 2 Dundee-Crown (21-13) opens the playoffs against No. 3 DeKalb (22-13), the Class 3A state runner up a year ago. An enrollment bump has returned DeKalb to Class 4A. D-C has won 12 of 16 down the stretch. The Chargers can hit. They have a team batting average of .312 with 15 home runs and 50 doubles. Leading the way are junior center fielder Jake Romano (. 421, 9 2B, 19 RBI), seniors Scott Nowicke (. 357, 6 HR, 9 2B, 19 RBI) and Steve Schwartz (. 344, 3 HR, 24 RBI) and sophomore catcher Dylan Kissack (. 370, 6 2B, 21 RBI). Two of D-C’s recent victories came in a 2-game sweep of Huntley by scores of 8-6 and 4-1. “I think we’re consistently playing the best baseball we’ve played all year,” said Dundee-Crown coach Jon Sawyer, who is stepping down at the end of the season. “It’s going to be a battle because DeKalb is good by all accounts, Huntley is very good and Jacobs is sitting there as a real dangerous team too, even if their record doesn’t show it.” If Jacobs is able to get by Jefferson in the play-in game, coach Erik Kehoe could tab junior Henry Gigeous to pitch against Huntley. Gigeous (4-3) has allowed only 2 hits in 12 innings with 19 strikeouts in his last 2 appearances. The Huntley pitching staff is led by Jake Staab (6-2) and Justin Gundlach (6-2).
Hoffman Estates regional: If seeds hold, the regional title game promises to be yet another good game between rivals Streamwood and South Elgin. These District U-46 schools met last year in a regional title game for the ages. Streamwood led that game 12-2 only to see South Elgin rally for a a13-12 victory and the school’s first regional title. The teams met once this season in another classic: Streamwood won 7-6 on Zach Bucher’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. No. 1 Streamwood (26-6), co-champion of the Upstate Eight River, will play Wednesday against the winner of today’s play-in game between No. 5 Elgin (4-27) and No. 4 Hoffman Estates. The Maroons won 2 of their last 4 ballgames behind the pitching efforts of Drew Bloomquist and Eric Daly. They are led offensively by seniors Javier Cardenas (. 388) and Lee Jackson (. 367). South Elgin (22-9) lost its final conference game to Batavia and was thus denied a share of the UEC Valley title. The Storm will open the playoffs Thursday against dangerous rival Larkin (11-21), which won its last 2 games of the regular season. Senior Kenny Lowden has slugged 11 home runs for South Elgin. Larkin defeated South Elgin 11-1 early n the season as speedy senior leadoff man Trevor Whitehead doubled twice and scored 3 runs for the Royals. Whitehead finished the regular season hitting .384 with 8 doubles and 3 triples. “It was a nice win earlier in the year,” Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. “I’m sure they’ve gotten better and we have too since then. We know they’re a good team and they’ll come out ready, but we know we can play and beat them. We’ll be ready to go.”
McHenry regional: How competitive will the regional be? No. 3 seed Crystal Lake South (18-12) split 2 games during the regular season with No. 1 McHenry (23-9), No. 2 Cary-Grove (23-9) and No. 4 Prairie Ridge (12-20). “It’s a very tough regional and anybody’s got a chance, Prairie Ridge too,” CL South coach Brian Bogda said. “You’ve got four solid teams. It’s going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes. It’s like starting the season over again.” McHenry will play Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at 4 p.m.; Cary-Grove will face Crystal Lake South on Thursday at 4 p.m. C-G has three tough pitchers in John Spoelstra (6-2), Matt Panek (5-0) and Kevin Weber (4-0), not to mention Richmond-bound shortstop Michael Vilardo and his 13 home runs. McHenry swept a doubleheader from Cary-Grove, including a wild game in which the Warriors rallied from an 18-6 deficit to win 19-18.
Rockford Boylan regional: Host Boylan Catholic (24-5) gets to play at home, where they Titans have gone 16-2 this season with losses to only Crystal Lake South (in the season opener) and Mt. Carmel. Boylan seeks its first regional title since 2007. Harlem is the No. 2 seed, followed by Hononegah, Guilford and Auburn.
Advancement: The winner of the DeKalb sectional will face the winner of the St. Charles North sectional in the Rockford RiverHawks Stadium supersectional on Monday, June 6 at 7 p.m. The top four seeds at St. Charles North are Lyons (30-3), St. Charles East (24-10), St. Charles North (23-10) and DuPage Valley Conference champion Wheaton North (21-8).
Class 4A St. Charles North sectional
Regional hosts: Geneva, Schaumburg, Wheaton North, Willowbrook
Top seeds: St. Charles East, Lyons, Wheaton North and St. Charles North
Schaumburg regional: No. 17 Bartlett (12-21) opens the postseason with a play-in game at No. 16 West Chicago on Monday at 4:30 p.m. The Hawks had won 5 of their last 6 games before they were swept by Lake Park in a doubleheader Saturday. The Bartlett-West Chicago winner earns a Wednesday date with mighty Lyons, which thumped Fremd 10-0 in five innings in a nonconference game Saturday. Bartlett is led by sparkplug Ryan Yore. The leadoff hitter finished the regular season hitting .407 (37-of-91) with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 31 runs scored.
Class 3A Rochelle sectional
Regional hosts: Hampshire, Sycamore, Belvidere, Freeport
Top seeds: Marmion, Sycamore, Marian Central, Belvidere North
Hampshire regional: Burlington Central (22-7) seeks its third straight regional title and the program’s sixth overall, but it won’t be easy. First up is a rematch with Hampshire (14-13). The rivals split a pair of regular-season games. If the Rockets manage to get past sophomore standout Tyler Crater and the Whip-Purs, they could face a rematch against Marmion. The Cadets ended Central’s season a year ago in a sectional semifinal. The Rockets return the two pitchers who won regional games for them last season: seniors Sam Klein (7-1) and Nick Hahn (4-3). Joey Lange (7-1) and Zach Ranney (3-2) round out a deep staff. The Rockets enter the playoffs winners of 6 in a row and 8 of their last 9. “You try to play your best ball at the end of the year, and this year we’re definitely doing that,” Central coach Kyle Nelson said. “We’re definitely a better team than we were at the beginning of the year. If you’ve got a couple of arms and a couple of guys in the middle of the order who can swing, in a single-elimination tournament you’ve got a chance.” Junior Tanner Scott has hit 8 home runs this season to raise his three-year total to 27, tying him with 2010 graduate Austin Jarvis for the school record. Scott hit 10 home runs as a freshman and 9 as sophomore.
Advancement: The Rochelle sectional champion advances to face the Galesburg sectional winner in the Augustana College supersectional in Rock Island on Monday, June 6 at 5 p.m. The top seeds in the Galesburg sectional are Galesburg, Washington, Peoria Notre Dame and Bartonville Limestone.