Baseball: Big first inning sparks Barrington past Fremd
A huge first inning proved to be instrumental for the Barrington baseball team Wednesday afternoon at Fremd.
The Broncos exploded for 7 runs on 4 hits against starting pitcher Bill Niewiadomski to give winning pitcher Logan Eisenbarth plenty of breathing room in the Mid-Suburban League West showdown.
The Vikings did respond with a 4-run rally of their own in the bottom of the second inning. But Barrington (4-1, 2-0) was able to hold off a late Fremd rally to capture an 8-5 victory under chilly playing conditions.
Leadoff hitter J.D. Swarbrick's walk started the first-inning rally before a bunt single by Ryan Jenkins and a walk by Eisenbarth loaded the bases.
Cleanup hitter Bruno Pallan's 2-run single to right field got Barrington on the scoreboard before Mason Rasmussen's RBI bloop single to right made the score 3-0.
A walk by Nick Lacson followed by a 2-run single by Jake Kohanzo boosted the lead to 5-0 before fielder's choice RBI by Danny Hoffman and Evan Jno-Baptiste staked the Broncos to their big 7-0 advantage. Fremd reliever Joe Neilson got the final out of the inning.
"When you put up seven in the first inning you are feeling pretty good, but they came back with four runs in the second," said Barrington coach Pat Wire, whose team was outhit 9-8. "They don't give up, they don't give in, and we got a big insurance run in the seventh."
Fremd (2-6-1, 0-2) got a two-out walk from Jaden Salazar to start its 4-run rally before No. 9-hitter Thomas Jusi singled to right field. A walk by Jack Kalitowski loaded the bases before Jack Graba's 2-run single cut the lead to 7-2. A 2-run single by Nick Varon got the Vikings right back in the game as they only trailed 7-4.
"We had a rough first inning, but Joe Neilson did a good job shutting them down the rest of the way," said Fremd coach Chris Piggott. "I like the way they competed, and we gave ourselves a chance to tie the game up."
Kalitowski singled and wound up scoring on a sacrifice fly by Varon in the bottom of the sixth. Lacson doubled, stole third base, and scored on an error for an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
After a two-out single by Fremd's Bo O'Brien, Barrington's Harley Thompson got the final out of the game on a strikeout. A dropped-third strike to the previous batter had led to a throwing error and men on first and second for the Vikings.
"Obviously we rallied some hits together and did everything we could to get the big (first) inning," said Eisenbarth. "It was a little bit of drama, and our pitcher (Thompson) came through and got us the win."