Baseball: Huntley among those off to fast start

The high school baseball season is in its infancy but that hasn't stopped several area teams from getting off to strong starts.

Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski has built one of the state's top baseball programs in his 17 seasons at the helm.

A year ago, the Red Raiders compiled a 31-5 overall record and captured the Fox Valley Conference title with a 16-2 mark. Their postseason run ended with a 4-3 loss to eventual 4th-place state finisher/conference rival McHenry in the Class 4A sectional championship.

Huntley improved to 4-0 with Monday's 16-2 win over Marist.

Brayden Bakes hit for the cycle, going 4 for 5 with a home run and 5 RBI, while Ryan Bakes also hit a home run and drove in 3.

Last week, the Red Raiders opened their season with a 5-2 victory over Moline - scoring all 5 of the runs in the first inning.

Sophomore A.J. Putty highlighted the frame with a 3-run home run, while seniors Joey Garlin and Ryan Quinlan each drove in a run.

Andrew Ressler worked the first 2 innings, giving up a pair of runs on 3 hits with 2 strikeouts, while junior Malachi Paplanus fanned a pair in 2 scoreless innings of work. Derek Huber and Vinny Costantino each added a scoreless frame before senior NIU commit Parker Schuring struck out the side in the top of the seventh to pick up the save.

Schuring was the winning pitcher, allowing a run on 5 hits in 3 innings, in Huntley's 6-2 win over Stevenson on March 23. Huber struck out 5 in 3 innings of relief for the save.

Sophomore Ryan Dabe led the way offensively, going 3 for 3 with an RBI, while Brayden Bakes, Garlin and Putty each went 1 for 3 with an RBI.

Huntley played long ball during last Friday's 12-1 victory over Hope Academy.

Ryan Dabe, who had 6 hits in his first 9 at-bats, went 2 for 3 with 4 RBI, belting a 3-run home run during the Red Raiders' 7-run sixth. Putty smacked his second home run of the season in the second, while Ryan Bakes (3 for 4) added a solo home run.

Costantino pitched 3 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts before giving way to relievers Jeremy Jaehnig (2 IP, 1 R, 2 Ks) and Paplanus (1 IP, 1 H, 2 Ks).

Crystal Lake South scored 25 runs in its first 2 games of the season - a 12-1 rout of Harvard and a 13-0, 5-inning victory over Woodstock.

The Gators began the 2023 campaign with a 6-run first inning against Harvard.

Seniors Kyle Kuffel, Nathan Karbowski, and junior C.J. Regillio each drove in a pair of runs, while Joey McEnery and Ryan Skwarek added RBI hits. Cole Tilley and James Carlson both went 1 for 2, while Edgar Camacho walked and scored a pair of runs.

Against Woodstock, Skwarek (4 IP, 1 BB, 9 Ks) and Tilley (1 IP, 1 BB, 2 Ks) combined for a 1-hitter. Offensive heroes included junior Dayton Murphy (3 for 5, 2B, 2 RBI), Tilley (2 for 3, 2 RBI), James Carlson (2 for 3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI), Kuffel (2 for 4, 2 RBI), and Skwarek (1 for 3, 2B, 2 RBI).

CLS finished the day with 12 stolen bases, 3 apiece from Yandel Ramirez and McEnery.

West Aurora opened with back-to-back wins over East Aurora (17-0) and Aurora Christian (9-0).

SIU-Edwardsville signee Ryan Niedzwiedz went 3 for 3 with a home run against the Tomcats, while Jake Williams and Matt Vincent each had doubles. Lucas Aguirre earned the win on the mound.

Against Aurora Christian, Niedzwiedz hit his second home run of the season and drove in 3, while Williams had a pair of hits, including a home run, and 2 RBI. Carson Bantz added an RBI double.

Colin Tarr fanned 6 in 3 innings of work, while Nathan Toma recorded a pair of strikeouts in 4 innings.

Aurora Christian (2-1) began its season with a pair of 5-inning, slaughter-rule shutouts over Marian Central Catholic (10-0) and Serena (11-0).

Senior Conner Kendall pitched a no-hitter with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts against Marian Central Catholic, while helping himself at the plate with 2 hits and an RBI.

Other offensive standouts included Josh Elwood (2 for 2, 2B, RBI), Diego Huerta (2 for 3, RBI), Andrew Hernandez (2 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI), Kaleb Elwood (2 for 3, 2 RBI), and Rudy Griffing (1 for 1, 2B, RBI, 2 BB).

Against Serena, freshman Asa Johnson pitched 4 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball, while receiving offensive support from Ryan Jones (2 for 4, RBI), freshman Owen Niedzwiecki (2 for 2, RBI), senior Adam Rocha (1 for 2, 2 RBI), Hernandez (1 for 2, 3 RBI), and Huerta (2 for 3, RBI).

Geneva opened with a 3-2 loss to Prospect on March 24.

Bryce Breon pitched 3 innings, allowing 2 unearned runs on 4 hits with a pair of strikeouts, while Robert Phillippe worked 2 1/3 scoreless frames with 2 strikeouts.

Tommy Maynard went 1 for 3 with an RBI, supported by Aiden Mayer (2 for 2), Jack Brault (1 for 2, 2B), and Jackson Dibble (BB, 2 SB).

Hampshire evened its record at 1-1 following last week's 16-3 victory over Larkin.

Domnick Kooistra had a pair of hits and 3 RBI, while Victor Rodriguez, Jr. drove in 3 runs and Dominic Borecky had 2 hits. Anthony Karbowski fanned 4 in 3 innings of work.

The Whip-Purs dropped a 10-6 decision to Woodstock last week despite a 2-hit, 2-RBI day from Kooistra.