Baseball: Grant knocks out Jacobs
Maybe, Grant High School baseball coach Dave Behm should petition the Fox Valley Conference for entrance in the league.
In the postseason, the Bulldogs are 4-0 against FVC foes.
Defeating Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South and McHenry to win the Class 4A Cary-Grove regional last week, the Bulldogs added their fourth Fox Valley victim Wednesday, knocking off Jacobs 8-5 in semifinal action of the Huntley sectional.
Grant (26-13) will play host and FVC participant Huntley for the sectional title Saturday at 11 a.m.
"We have beaten 4 very good FVC teams in the tournament," said Behm. "We are playing with a survival mentality every game. This team just wants to keep playing baseball."
The Bulldogs chased Jacobs starter Brad Demkovich with a 5-run third. The key hits for the winners were a 2-run double by Ricky Allen and a 2-run single by Ben Kusiak.
The Golden Eagles (22-14), who were hindered by 4 errors, battled back with a run in the third courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Tim Randl and 4 in the fourth powered by a 3-run homer by Cameron Wilson. The Eagles tied the score at 5 on a run-producing single by Nate Meland.
Grant took the lead for good with 2 in the sixth on a 2-RBI by Kusiak and scored an insurance run in the seventh on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Ethan Unger.
Grant sophomore Shawn Riley struck out 3 and walked 1 in blanking Jacobs in 2 innings of work to earn the save. Sean Lane pitched 1 inning in relief to register the win.
"I really like the closer role," said Riley. "I knew Jacobs is a good hitting team so I have to keep them off the stride. I was throwing strikes and my change up was working."
Behm believes Riley has the right makeup to be a closer.
"He is very mature for his age," said Behm. "He has a great demeanor. He comes in the game and challenges the hitters and throws strikes."
Nebraska-bound junior leadoff hitter Mike Addante paced the Eagles with 3 hits, a double and a run scored.
"We had some uncharacteristic defensive miscues," said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray. "We were well prepared with our scouting but we had breakdowns that really hurt us. I am very proud of the seniors. They have won a lot of games in 4 years."