Self, Jacobs get past Huntley
The Jacobs baseball team’s 8-4 victory over Huntley Thursday was partly a matter of Self-help.
No. 3 Huntley led 3-0 after half an inning, but No. 2 Jacobs showed no panic. The Golden Eagles chipped away with single runs in the first and second innings before erupting for a 6-run third to pull away for an 8-4 victory in a Class 4A Huntley baseball regional semifinal.
The victory advances Jacobs (19-15) to the regional title game against No. 1 Crystal Lake South (27-9) on Saturday at 4 p.m. Jacobs has never won a regional baseball championship.
The clarion call to rally was sounded by Jacobs senior Mark Self. He led off the bottom of the first by pulling a solo home run to right field off Huntley starting pitcher Bryan Doherty (6-3). The left-handed hitter got a 1-1 fastball and sliced it through a crosswind gusting up to 40 mph to pull Jacobs within 3-1.
Self pumped his fist as he rounded first base and let out a primal yell every Golden Eagle heard: “Let’s go!” He shouted the same message to his teammates as they greeted him in front of the dugout.
“I was sick of losing to these guys,” said Self, who went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. “I was hoping to spark something. I hope it did.”
It was Self’s fifth home run of the season.
“Mark showed that we could have success against a good pitcher like that,” Jacobs coach Jamie Murray said. “That gave everyone else confidence.”
The Eagles scored an unearned run in the second inning on pinch hitter Joe Rizzuto’s groundball to second base to close the deficit to a run. Then came what proved to be the decisive bottom of the third.
Jacobs sent 10 batters to the plate, six of whom hit safely, and scored 6 runs with two outs. Greg Sidor doubled in a run to tie the game, John Berndt followed with a single to take a 4-3 lead, and pinch hitter Evan Blunk singled in 2 more runs from the No. 8 hole. Another run scored on an error at second base off the bat of Ryan Ulmer.
That spelled the end for Doherty, who allowed 8 runs (6 earned) on 8 hits in 2 innings. Jake Perkins came on in relief, but Self greeted him with a run-scoring single to make it 8-3.
The Red Raiders didn’t provide Doherty much defensive help in the inning. Sidor’s catchable flyball to right-center field fell untouched for a double due to miscommunication between outfielders, and a tailor-made double-play ball with no outs resulted in just a force play at second due to a low throw from third base.
“We made mistakes and they capitalized on it,” said Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski, who charged his team with 5 physical errors and 3 mental errors. “That’s our season.”
Jacobs starting pitcher Greg Mixon (5-1) settled down after giving up 3 runs in the first inning on 4 hits and a walk. He lasted 5 innings, allowing all 4 Huntley earned runs on 6 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 3.
Blunk, the likely starter against CL South, pitched a scoreless sixth on his “bullpen day,” helped by a double-play ball. Senior closer Zac Camacho retired the Red Raiders in order in the seventh, assisted by third baseman John Berndt’s diving catch of a line drive for the second out.
It was the second web gem turned in by Berndt, who also made a terrific diving catch to his right while playing second base in the second inning. On that play, he scurried to his feet and made the accurate throw to rob Tyler Albright of a hit.
“Greg was pitching to contact and we were all just out there making plays,” Berndt said modestly of the second-inning play. “I just found the ball and my glove and made the throw.” Albright, Jordan Chiupek and Brody Burkhart drove in Huntley’s first-inning runs, but the Red Raiders couldn’t knock Mixon out of the game when they had him on the ropes in the first and the fifth. With runners at second and third with no outs in the fifth inning, Mixon struck out Huntley’s Nos. 2 and 3 hitters before giving up a run-scoring single to Bryce Only. Mixon notched his third strikeout of the inning to strand a runner at third.
Jacobs and CL South split two regular-season meetings.
“They swing the bat as well as anybody,” Murray said of the Gators, “but this team expects to win. We’re not afraid of anybody.”