History for Streamwood

Pitcher Josh Harris acted like he’d been there before, even though Streamwood never had.

Once Harris struck out Cary-Grove power hitter Michael Vilardo with two runners on base to finalize the Sabres’ 2-1 Class 4A sectional final victory over Cary-Grove in DeKalb Saturday, the 6-foot-3 senior tossed his glove aside, raised his arms straight up in the air and walked off the mound.

Soaked with sweat after he threw 103 pitches on a 90-degree June day, the big left-hander took only a few steps before catcher Nick Pryor jumped into his arms. The battery was soon mobbed by the rest of the position players and the onrushing bench.

Streamwood (30-6) had reason to feel giddy. A week after winning the first regional title in the baseball program’s 32-year history, the Sabres secured their first sectional championship, thanks to a couple of timely hits in support of the gritty effort from the Villanova-bound Harris. The victory was a comeback. Cary-Grove led 1-0 until the Sabres scratched across single runs in the fifth and sixth innings against left-handed starting pitcher John Spoelstra.

“This team always finds a way,” said Harris, who held a team with a .364 batting average to 1 run on 8 hits. “We’ve found a way all season.”

The victory advances Streamwood (30-6) to the Rockford River Hawks supersectional at Road Ranger Stadium on Monday at 7 p.m. The Sabres will face Lyons (34-4), which defeated Glenbard West 7-2 to win the St. Charles North sectional.

The sectional title is the first for Streamwood in any major team sport since the girls basketball team advanced to a supersectional in 1988.

“I think this means a lot to Streamwood,” senior outfielder Patrick Manning said of the title. “I think it shows sports at our school can be competitive. It shows every sport you can do something here if you really put your mind to it.”

Cary-Grove (27-10) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning via a leadoff double by senior Matt Panek and a run-scoring single to right center from senior Kevin Weber.

However, the Trojans failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities to add to their lead. They stranded Weber despite the fact he was in scoring position with no outs. In that case, Harris avoided more trouble by sandwiching 2 of his 9 strikeouts around a groundout.

The Trojans stranded another runner in scoring position with less than two outs in the third inning, and they left the bags packed in the fifth. In that instance, Harris intentionally walked Panek to get to Weber, whom he struck out with a high fastball.

That shifted momentum to Streamwood. The Sabres put two men on base in their half of the fifth when Harris drew a leadoff walk and Pryor singled. With two outs and a full count, Manning fought off a curveball in on his hands for a single to center field, scoring courtesy runner Brett Kiesel with the tying run.

“With the count full I just wanted to pull my hands in, make contact and get it to fall,” Manning said.

Spoelstra walked the leadoff man again in the sixth. Tim Cohen followed with a bunt, but the throw to second base to keep courtesy runner Edgar Saldivar from advancing was dropped. Everyone was safe.

“We win as a team and we lose as a team, and we did that today,” Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland said. “John walked two hitters to lead off innings, and we didn’t do a good job defensively once they had runners on base. We also didn’t score runs when we had opportunities. So all three phases played a part in this one.”

Streamwood junior Alex Morrow subsequently delivered the go-ahead RBI by singling past diving third baseman Nick Richter to plate Saldivar. The ball was bobbled by the left fielder, thus, no play at the plate.

“I was looking for a fastball I could hit to score the run, so I just stayed focused the whole at-bat,” Morrow said.

Harris took the mound in the seventh with a lead for the first time, though “I was starting to lose my legs,” he later said.

Cary-Grove threatened with one out when Matt Byrne legged out a bloop double to left field. After Nick Richter was grazed by a pitch to give the Trojans runners at first and second with one out. Vilardo stepped to the plate. He too thought he was grazed by a Harris pitch and began walking toward first base. However, the umpire said Vilardo had not been hit.

Confused, Byrne began jogging to third base only to hesitate. Pryor threw the ball to third baseman Richie Gorski, who tagged Byrne for a big second out.

Vilardo, who entered the game as the area leader in home runs (15) and RBI (57) simply couldn’t handle Harris. He struck out for the fourth time to end the game.

“He’s a great pitcher and he’s going to Villanova for a reason,” said Vilardo, who will next play for the Richmond Spiders. “He had my number. I tip my cap to him. He beat me today. I hope their team does well the rest of the tournament.”

Harris fed the Cary-Grove slugger a steady diet of inside heat.

“I saw him hit a curveball across the street the other day,” Harris said of a Vilardo home run in the semifinals against Dundee-Crown. “I thought I should stick with my best pitch because he’s probably one of the best hitters in the area. I knew I had to be at my best to beat him.”

After Harris was doused with the Gatorade bucket, Streamwood coach Steve Diversey handed him the game ball.

“He took a great hitting team and kept them at bay,” Diversey said. “We moved on because of him.”

Rockford River Hawks supersectional: The Sabres will likely tab junior Dalton Lundeen to pitch against Lyons on Monday at 7 p.m.

“Coach came up to me after the game and said ‘Get ready to pitch under the lights,’ so can only assume that’s what he means,” said Lundeen, a left-hander with a record of 7-2.

Lundeen has started and won 2 playoff games against Elgin and Boylan. He also worked in relief in an 11-inning regional title game. He pitched Wednesday, as did Lyons senior Connor Cuff (9-0), who is 17-0 over two seasons.

“We’ll have our hands full,” Diversey said, “but anything can happen. They’re high school kids and they’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

The Lions are among the elite programs in Illinois baseball. They have reached the state finals eight times, including state titles in 1967 and 2003 (AA). They last won a supersectional in 2006.

“Once we won that regional all the pressure came off,” Manning said. “We’re just playing well now and enjoying ourselves.”