Rockford Boylan outlasts Crystal Lake South
Two baseball teams with high expectations gave fans an early season treat Friday when Rockford Boylan won a 6-5 thriller against host Crystal Lake South in a June-caliber game.
Boylan (2-0) - which dropped to Class 3A last year but was moved back up to Class 4A this season by IHSA rule after advancing to a sectional final - prevailed on the strength of senior Ryan Stanicek's seventh-inning, leadoff home run.
A left-handed hitter, Stanicek pulled a 1-0 pitch from CL South left-handed reliever John Constantino and lined it over the right field fence 340-plus feet away to snap a 5-5 tie.
Senior relief pitcher Dalton Robison put the finishing touch on the Titans' victory in the bottom of the seventh when he struck out CL South No. 5 hitter Mike Avella looking at a curveball with runners on first and second to end the game.
The victory over the Gators, who finished fifth in the state last July in the Phil Lawler Summer Classic, is an early feather in Boylan's cap since both teams are likely to be assigned to the same sectional.
"They're a good team and they had good pitching," said Stanicek, one of eight returning starters for the Titans. "It felt good to come back and win that game. I think we just wanted it a little bit more."
Boylan took a 4-0 lead with single runs in each of the first four innings against CL South's Ryan Wilkening, a Wisconsin-Oshkosh recruit. He allowed 3 earned runs on 8 hits, walked 1 and struck out 2 in 4 innings.
Playing without head coach Brian Bogda, who was serving a mandatory one-game suspension for being ejected from the final game of CL South's 2014 season, the Gators stormed back with a 5-run fifth. No. 9 hitter Andrew Swiatly singled in the first run, center fielder Collin Chubb followed with a 2-run double, Swiatly scored the tying run on a wild pitch and junior catcher Nick Van Witzenburg pulled a single to right field to plate Chubb with the go-ahead run.
"I saw he was throwing fastballs during warm-up," Chubb said. "I felt pretty confident. I just went up there ready to swing."
"It hurt that we got down early, but we never lost hope," Van Witzenburg said. "All the guys held together."
Boylan took that punch and jabbed back, tying the game 5-5 in the top of the sixth. No. 9 hitter Alec Ciaccio drew a leadoff walk from CL South reliever Tim Siesennop and scored the tying run one out later on Nick Nalewanski's double to the left-center wall.
Robison struck out 4 in 2.1 scoreless relief innings to earn the win. Boylan starting pitcher Will Troia went 4.1 innings and allowed 4 earned runs on 5 hits and 2 walks and struck out 4.
"We should have gotten it done today, but it was a good way to start the season coming back like that," Van Witzenburg said. "Hopefully, we'll get them next time."