Hoffman Estates bounces back
Hoffman Estates had a tough test as it looked to rebound from a rough season-opening loss to Mundelein.
The Hawks responded in spectacular fashion Saturday as Brian Cvitkovich’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave them a 6-5 nonconference baseball victory over Libertyville.
“We talked about that it wasn’t us against Mundelein and that it was one game and move on,” said Hoffman coach Todd Meador. “We found our identity and this is certainly a team we’d like to call what Hoffman baseball will be this year, that we’ll battle against some of the best teams around.”
Ethan Bloom and Mike Gordon homered for the Hawks. Kevin Grudzinski tripled to start the game and finished with the victory in relief.
Elk Grove 4, Bartlett 2: A rash of suspensions for athletic code violations saw Elk Grove come into its season opener with only three of its projected starters in the lineup against Bartlett.
But the Grenadiers came out with a nonconference victory started by Cody Gustafson and finished with two no-hit innings by Illinois State-bound Jack Czeszewski.
“We played better than I thought we’d play,” said Elk Grove coach Terry Beyna. “We had to call up sophomores and piece it all together.
“We had guys out of position everywhere and guys who had never played (varsity). It was just crazy but that made today really good.”
Gustafson didn’t allow an earned run on 4 hits in 4 1-3 innings and had 3 strikeouts and no walks. Czeszewski had 2 strikeouts and 1 walk for the save.
“Gustafson pitched really well,” Beyna said. “Jack was outstanding in relief.”
Czeszewski had a big RBI triple in the fifth and Cody Schrader had an RBI single for the Grenadiers.
Leyden 5, Palatine 1: Angel Sanchez made sure Rob Hamann’s head coaching debut at Leyden was a success.
Sanchez helped his own cause by going 3-for-3 with a homer, double, walk and 2 RBI in the nonconference victory over Palatine (1-1). The senior right-hander had 8 strikeouts and 2 walks in 5 1-3 innings and Dan Schoedel got the save.
“We were a little sloppy defensively (4 errors) but everything else came together pretty good,” Hamann said. “(Sanchez) threw the ball well and he was pretty sharp. He really battled really well.”
York 8, Barrington 5: Senior catcher Ryan Lidge went 2-for-3 with a 3-run homer as Barrington committed 4 errors in its nonconference opener. Barrington starter Frank Waliczek allowed only 2 earned runs in 6 innings.