Huntley's win also a positive for Burlington Central

From the Burlington Central baseball team's perspective, Friday's 3-1 loss at Huntley is more beneficial in the long run than any of the recent blowouts the Rockets have enjoyed against fellow Class 3A competition.

The Big Northern East leaders - 9-0 in league play - entered the nonconference test against the Class 4A Red Raiders sporting a 17-4 record. Their only previous losses were to 4A schools Dundee-Crown (14-7), Cary-Grove (13-6-2) and Barrington (17-6) and Madeira, Ohio (12-10).

Huntley (7-15) did what it was supposed to do in dispatching a 3A challenger on its home field, but not without a strong push from the Rockets, who had runners at first and second in the seventh inning when Tanner Smith's foul pop was snared by Huntley first baseman Noah Konie to end a well-played ballgame by both teams.

"We love playing competition like this," said Central shortstop Drew Wiss, who led off the sixth inning by pulling a solo home run over the right-field fence for his third homer in as many days.

"When we beat a team by a lot, we don't get much out of it. I'd rather lose 3-1 (against Huntley) than win 10-0 against another team that's really bad. This helps us get better. This is the type of team we'll face in the playoffs."

Huntley's Ryan Mills nabbed the win by holding Central (17-5) to an earned run on 4 hits and 3 walks over 5 innings. Reliever Jeff Heinrich held the lead in the sixth inning by notching 2 strikeouts without a hit, and Brandon Altergott pitched around 2 hits in a scoreless seventh to earn the save.

Mills was effective despite striking out only one Rocket. The 5-foot-11, 155-pound right-hander fell behind to 11 of the 21 hitters he faced, but the senior worked his way back into several counts by throwing change-ups in fastball situations. The goal was contact, and the Red Raider defense played its part with an error-free game.

"I couldn't get first-pitch strikes, so I had to throw to contact more,"Mills said. "My guys backed me up in the field."

"I believe we had 13 assists, so we played defense behind him," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. "I thought he changed speeds real well and got guys on their front foot. He pitched to contact, which is exactly what he's supposed to do."

Huntley scored all 3 of its runs in the third inning against Craig Schuring (0-2). With Ryan McGran on second base and Jake Liebman on first with two outs, Altergott lined a 2-2 pitch to center field for a single and a 1-0 lead.

With runners at second and third, Huntley senior Bobby Hecker followed with a 2-run single to center that staked Mills to a 3-0 lead.

"I came up and fouled two back and had a two-strike approach," Hecker said. "I worked the count to 2-2, went into my stance, worked my hands, shot it right back up the middle and it worked out."

Wiss' home run proved to be the only offense for the Rockets. It was the fifth home run of the season for the future Air Force cadet. The shortstop also homered against Johnsburg and Cary-Grove. In 4 games this week, Wiss is 8-for-10 with 3 home runs, a double, 6 RBI and 6 runs scored.

"He's swinging very well right now. He's locked in," Central coach Kyle Nelson said. "He's had a nice week and he's been playing well defensively also. He's really come along and made a lot of nice strides this year."