Marengo grits out win over Streamwood on a blustery day
There will assuredly be more aesthically pleasing victories for Marengo’s baseball team than Monday’s 17-9 nonconference triumph over Streamwood.
The conditions — low-50-degree temperatures with 13 mph winds and a steady drizzle — were less than desireable. But the Indians battled through, scored almost at will despite a total of six hits, and basically beat the Sabres by making far fewer mistakes.
“The elements were tough, but we’ve been taught that we don’t complain and we’re stuck in it,” Marengo shortstop Quinn Lechner said. “It’s the same for both sides and the tougher team’s going to come out on top.”
Marengo (4-4) batted around three times in the game, constantly put pressure on Streamwood (1-2) with stolen bases and extra bases. The Indians took full advantage of 17 free passes (14 walks and Lechner with three hit by pitches) and the Sabres’ eight errors.
Streamwood more than doubled the Indians’ hits with 13, but Marengo led all the way in a game that took 3 hours, 12 minutes.
The game likely would not have been started had it not been played at Lee Pfund Stadium, an all artificial-turf field.
Marengo coach Nick Naranjo called the win “gritty” to his team afterward.
“Just being able to continue to keep battling, especially when things aren’t going our way,” Naranjo said. “We talked about it’s a tough day to pitch, a tough day to play defense or stand out there with balls that are slick. There were a lot of walks. But I loved the way our guys battled.
“Offensively, we took what they were giving us, they were giving us free bases. Being able to capitalize on that and put the ball in play when we needed to and putting pressure on the defense was key. We did that really well today.”
Streamwood coach Dan Jennings lamented the free passes and miscues the Sabres committed.
“If you get two outs, the next guy has to be Strike 1,” Jennings said. “It was usually Ball 1, Ball 2, Ball 3 and we gave up cheap runs at the end. It was really hard to get out of every inning, even though our guys swung it very well.
“We gave up a lot of freebies. A lot of basic stuff, pick over to first base, we probably had four errors on those. It’s tough to win when you give three, four, five, six, seven outs.”
Streamwood actually got back in the game with a five-run sixth inning, cutting the Indians’ lead to 11-8. But Marengo came back with six runs on one hit in the seventh, Lechner’s RBI single.
“We knew the (strike) zone well and had a patient approach and took a lot of walks and extra bases on overthrows,” Lechner said.
Marengo junior Robert Heuser allowed two earned runs over five innings and struck out seven, walking only two. He also delivered a two-run single in the Indians’ five-run fifth.
“Just threw strikes and prayed to God,” Heuser said. “Honestly, just hitting spots, and my offspeed was working.”
Naranjo was especially pleased with Heuser’s effort given the conditions. Through four innings he had five strikeouts, one walk and no earned runs. He left runners on second and third in the fifth with his final strikeout.
“He looked really good in the first four,” Naranjo said. “We talked about keeping hitters off-balance. If we had to, pitch backwards when we needed to.
“(Heuser) had Schaumburg, Wauconda and Streamwood, he’s pitched against some bigger schools, but he’s done extremely well throwing strikes and putting us in a position to win baseball games. Being able to do that today was really nice.”
The Sabres’ top four hitters gave Marengo problems. Leadoff man Antonio Alanis was 4 for 5 with a homer, Miguel Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, Dylan Love was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Austin Paskewic was 2 for 5 with an RBI.