Kaveney, Cary-Grove battle past Jacobs
An extraordinary effort is sometimes required to win a battle between baseball rivals vying for position near the top of the leader board in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference.
Cary-Grove left-hander Ryan Kaveney’s 142-pitch complete game in a 3-1 victory at Jacobs in frigid conditions Friday falls in that category.
The 6-foot, 197-pound senior was the first to admit afterward he didn’t have his best stuff on the mound. Kaveney had trouble locating his curveball and changeup for strikes with temperatures in the mid-40s and a steady 15-mph wind blowing in from left. He struck out 7 and limited Jacobs to 5 hits, but he walked 4 and hit 2 batters.
“But he battled through it,” 25th-year Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland said. “I started asking him from the fifth inning on how he was feeling and he said he was OK. When you’ve got your 6-0 guy going, you want to win that game. It’s very nice to start a 2-game series with your ace and he wins it.”
Kaveney escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning by striking out cleanup man Max Rider. He stranded 2 Golden Eagles in scoring position in the fourth by fanning Matt Hickey, and left the tying runs on base in the seventh by inducing consecutive flyballs from Kenny Finn and Rider to end the game.
The victory was the second straight and ninth in 10 games for Cary-Grove (15-7, 9-1), which stayed within a half game of first-place Prairie Ridge (18-6, 10-1). The Wolves defeated Crystal Lake Central 3-1.
The loss snapped a 6-game winning streak against FVC competition for Jacobs (13-8, 8-2). The Golden Eagles slipped to fourth place in the bunched-up Valley, half a game behind Crystal Lake South (17-7, 9-2), which defeated McHenry 3-0.
Kaveney became the second area pitcher to reach 7 wins, joining CL South’s Jordan Van Dyck (7-1).
“I just tried to throw strikes and they made the plays behind me,” said Kaveney of a defense that played error free.
Kaveney outdueled Jacobs left-hander Nick Ledinsky (3-3), who held Cary-Grove to 4 hits in 7 innings. However, the 6-4 junior received little support from his defense. The Golden Eagles committed 7 errors. All three runs charged to Ledinsky, who struck out 7 and walked only 1, were unearned.
“We’re going to make mistakes,” Ledinsky said. “We just have to keep our heads up and make the next play that comes to us.”
Ledinsky appeared to strengthen as the game progressed. He retired the last nine Trojans he faced in order and struck out the side in the top of the seventh. However, Cary-Grove cleanup hitter Daniel Vilardo had already done damage in the third inning.
Leadoff hitter Matt Byrne singled to open the third, and Jeremy Vasquez reached safely when a potential double-play ball was booted. One out later, Vilardo lined a single the opposite way to right field on a 1-2 count. The ball skipped past the Jacobs right fielder and rolled to the fence, which allowed Byrne and Vasquez to round the bases and stake the Trojans to a 3-1 lead.
“I was ready for the fastball, but the curve came in low and I hit it,” said Vilardo, now batting .391 (27-for-69) with 15 RBI.
“They made some mistakes (in the field), and Daniel had a nice day hitting,” Sutherland said. “He had a nice at-bat or this could have been a 1-0 or a 1-1 game.”
Cary-Grove grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Vilardo reached on an error, stole second and advanced to third when the throw from the catcher sailed into center field. Andrew Brierton delivered a two-out single to right field to put the Trojans ahead.
Jacobs tied the game 1-1 when Connor Conzelman smacked his third home run of the season and second in as many games over the wall in right center.
The teams complete the series today in Cary at 10 a.m.