Streamwood, Cary-Grove take different paths
One baseball program has been down this path twice in recent years.
A sectional title game is a whole new ballgame for the other.
Nevertheless, both Cary-Grove (28-9) and Streamwood (29-6) are brimming with confidence in the aftermath of sectional semifinal victories this week. The teams will meet for the Class 4A sectional title at DeKalb High School Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We’re really hitting well,” Cary-Grove senior Nick Richter said after the Trojans jumped to a 13-0 lead Thursday en route to a 14-7 mugging of Dundee-Crown. “Everybody seems to be locked in.”
The prolific Trojans, hitting .364 as a team, seek their third sectional title in six seasons. They’ll have to earn it against a tough customer in Streamwood senior ace Josh Harris.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound left-hander recorded the final four outs in Wednesday’s 8-7 victory over Boylan. Moments later he confirmed without hesitation “I’m pitching” in the sectional title game.
Both teams have reason to believe this is their year.
Streamwood is enjoying the greatest baseball season in the school’s 32-year history. The Sabres were the state-runner up in the summer tournament last July and followed up this spring by tying St. Charles East for the title in the competitive River Division of the Upstate Eight Conference.
The Sabres made school history last week by winning the school’s first baseball regional title. They outlasted rival South Elgin 5-4 in 11 innings. It was a key achievement for the 13 seniors on the 22-man roster, many of them third-year varsity performers.
Streamwood’s offensive catalyst is leadoff man/shortstop Nate Pearson. He is hitting .317 with an on-base percentage of .493 and has 38 stolen bases in 39 attempts.
Other offensive leaders include junior third baseman Richie Gorski (.413, 5 HR, 36 RBI), senior outfielders Tim Cohen (.311, 18 RBI) and Patrick Manning (.315, 9 doubles, 28 RBI), junior left fielder Alex Morrow (.330, 7 HR, 27 RBI), Harris (.317, 7 HR, 25 RBI), and junior second baseman Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle (.301, 21 RBI).
Harris will be a key figure against Cary-Grove. Signed to pitch in the Big East next year for Villanova, he approaches 90 mph on his tailing fastball.
“Not to put pressure on the kid, but we’ve told Josh we’re going to ride him to a win or ride him to a loss,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. “It’s going to come down to who can hit the ball better because they’ve got good pitching too.”
Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland, in his 24th season, has pitching options. If he stays on schedule with the three-man pitching rotation of John Spoelstra, Kevin Weber and Matt Panek, it would be Spolestra’s turn to pitch.
Spoelstra threw a complete game last Thursday in a regional semifinal victory over Crystal Lake South. That performance upped the left-hander’s record to 7-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.53. He has struck out 65 and walked 18 in 69 innings.
A three-man playoff rotation is no stranger to Sutherland and the Trojans. In 2009, they rode the arms of Corey Bruns, Matt Nelsen and Stu Gaulke to a fourth-place finish in Class 4A. The Trojans’ road to state that year also went through the DeKalb sectional.
Shortstop Michael Vilardo was added to the 2009 playoff roster but did not see playing time behind veteran Chris Waylock. The former high-level hockey player has quick wrists and generates tremendous bat speed. Committed to Richmond, Vilardo is hitting .451 (51-for-113) and leads the area in home runs (15) and RBI (57).
Vilardo said Thursday pitchers are throwing him mostly breaking balls these days. However, teams that pitch around him pay the price against Panek in the cleanup spot. Bound for Ohio State, Panek is hitting .395 with 9 doubles, 3 home runs and 49 RBI.
Other offensive threats for the Trojans include leadoff man Matt Byrne (.379, 47 runs), No. 2 hitter Nick Richter (.463, 42 runs), catcher Alex Wians (.425, 6 doubles, 19 RBI) and Weber (.368, 7 doubles, 20 RBI).
Cary-Grove hopes to stay hot at the plate following Thursday’s offensive performance, when the Trojans belted 18 hits in 35 official at-bats.
“We couldn’t have asked for much better offensively,” Sutherland said. “It was a great, great, great start. “Our sacrifices were good, our baserunning was good and, obviously, our hitting was good.”