Baseball: Barrington pitches in, gets past Guilford
Barrington's baseball team repeated its recent pattern of success in the Class 4A McHenry sectional semifinals on Thursday.
The Broncos got a familiar combination of efficient pitching from a variety of sources, coupled with some timely hitting to earn a 5-3 victory over Rockford Guilford in the first semi of the day at Peterson Park in McHenry.
The Mid-Suburban West champs advance to an 11 a.m. Saturday sectional final against Huntley, which rallied with 4 runs in the eighth inning to beat McHenry 6-5.
Rami Fakhoury started for Barrington and allowed a pair of earned runs over 3 innings.
The Broncos (23-7-2) trailed 2-0 heading into the top of the fourth inning, when they did all their scoring.
A single and a pair of walks loaded the bases. With two outs, Jake Horcher's single to right scored Daniel Ensign and Jake Ackard.
Michael Zavoli followed with an RBI double, and Johnny Gagne followed with a single that plated Horcher and Ethan Miyake.
Ace middle reliever RJ Nowicki entered in the bottom of the fourth inning and was dominant for the next three innings. He fanned four and allowed 1 hit in his scoreless stint.
"Our bullpen is our strength," said Barrington coach Pat Wire. "We pitch by committee, and by matchups. We have had to come back every time - it would be nice to play with the lead."
One thing's for sure: once they get the lead, the Broncos have been great about protecting it - even when things don't exactly go smoothly.
In the bottom of the seventh, a hit-by-pitch and consecutive errors to start the inning with Brad Coble on the mound for Barrington allowed Guilford to score its final run.
In came Nate Holler, Barrington's fourth pitcher of the day, to close the door.
He got the first out on a fielder's choice, which advanced runners to second and third. After an intentional walk to load the bases, Holler got out of the jam with a strikeout and a come-backer to the mound to earn himself a pressure-packed save.
Horcher and David Mitchell both finished with 2 hits, and Clark Elliott and Tyler Acosta each stole a base.
Nowicki said a clear understanding of his responsibilities has helped him relax and stay focused on the mound.
"My role is to come in relief situations," he said. "There is no pressure - I trust my fielders and coaches."
After hanging on against Guilford, the Broncos weren't immediately sure who their Saturday opponent would be. But Wire knew it would be a challenge against either Huntley or McHenry.
"They are both elite teams," he said. "We will give it a shot and battle."