Baseball: Eisenbarth, Barrington open with win over Crystal Lake Central

Crystal Lake Central saw plenty of encouraging signs in its season opener against Barrington.

Tigers' lefty Buzz Macke threw three shutout innings and struck out the side in the third inning with runners at second and third.

Leadoff man Brent Blitek and No. 3 hitter Braydon Gibour rapped out five of Central's eight hits and the defense played flawlessly.

But Broncos starter Logan Eisenbarth was too tough, fanning six and allowing one unearned run in five innings as Barrington defeated Central, 5-2, Tuesday at Kirby Smith Field.

"I loved our compete," Central coach Andy Deain said. "We played pretty good baseball, we played clean. We got beat. They hit the baseball well, I can live with that. We played a good game on defense. We had over 50% [quality at-bats], I'm happy about it."

The Broncos' bats came to life in the fourth after Macke, on a pitch limit, departed with 53 pitches. Nick Lacson and Peter Maestranzi knocked in runs in the fourth before JD Swarbrick homered to lead off a three-run fifth.

Eisenbarth, who will pitch at NCAA Division III powerhouse Wisconsin-Whitewater next season, threw 66 pitches and declined to leave when Broncos coach Pat Wire originally planned.

"I went to go get him and he told me no," Wire said. "He's trained, he's ready to go. I put the ceiling on him because it's early. He's a horse and he'll go and he's built to do it."

Central had Eisenbarth in some trouble in the fifth after Blitek singled, Ryan Kempf reached on an error and Gibour ripped an RBI double to left field. But Eisenbarth struck out Nico Acevedo with courtesy runner Max Scaravalle at third and Gibour at second to end the threat.

"(Wire) wanted to take me out, but I wanted the fifth inning," Eisenbarth said. "It was a very good outing. I missed my spots a little, but that's why we have fielders out there. The fastball worked well, I just have to locate it better. The slider was my big hitter today."

Macke struck out five, walked three and allowed one hit in his three innings. The third-inning escape was impressive. Lacson and Mason Rasmussen both reached on walks and Lacson advanced on a passed ball and stolen base to third. Courtesy runner Jackson Kanak then stole second.

"I just took a breath and focused on my fastball," said Macke, who fanned the next three batters. "I feel like that's my strong suit. I relied on that heavily. I was happy with it, I definitely need to work on some stuff. I have to work on my offspeed."

Deain was pleased to see it from Macke, who was twice quarantined in the 2021 season with COVID-19 protocols, leading to an abbreviated season.

"He had second and third and no outs and struck out three guys in a row," Deain said. "That showed some competitive fire in him. I'm really happy for him to get out of that situation and feel what that feels like."

Blitek had a pair of singles, while Gibour was 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI doubles.

"I was seeing the ball pretty well today, we just couldn't string our hits together," Gibour said. "We were hitting the ball pretty good, we just couldn't string them together. I was mostly sitting fastballs and when I saw it I just went."