Baseball: Hersey wins fifth straight over Barrington
Jeremy Allen and Hersey continue to cook Barrington.
Hersey beat Barrington for the fifth consecutive time in the last three years Friday, dropping the Broncos 9-2 in Arlington Heights.
“It does ebb and flow,” said Hersey coach Wally Brownley, whose team beat Barrington three times last season including the MSL title game and the playoffs.
“I think the first handful of years I was here we didn’t get one against coach (Pat) Wire and his boys. It’s baseball. But every time we play those guys we know we have to bring our ‘A’ game.”
Although he wasn’t on his “A” game Friday, Allen still picked up his third win against Barrington in the last two seasons. The Kansas-commit, who pitched on Monday against Elk Grove, went three innings, striking out five but walking three.
“It was definitely not my best, but I did try my best today,” Allen said. “The first two innings were great. But the third inning I kind of fell apart a little bit. But my defense picked me up and got me out of the inning.”
Hersey (7-5, 3-0) gave Allen a 3-0 lead in the first two innings.
Boykin Barnard, who singled in the first, went to third on a throwing error. He scored on Chuck Meister’s ground out. In the next inning, Charlie Arvanitis and Diego Garcia each singled. After a walk, both scored when Barrington failed to turn a double play and then added a throwing error to the play.
Barrington came up with its only offense when Dillon Fitzpatrick, who had doubled earlier in game, tripled to left center, scoring his brother Conor, who had walked. Dillon then scored on a throwing error to cut the margin to 3-2.
But Hersey would score three times in each of the next two innings to put the game away.
Barnard bunted his way on and would score in the third. Meister, who walked, and Arvantiis, who had his second hit of the game, would later score on separate wild pitches.
“I feel good and I am happy we are winning,” said Barnard, who missed the first part of the season with an injury. “I have been hitting well, laying down some bunts, playing some small ball.”
In the next inning, Marcus Krecu, who was hit by a pitch, and Drew Phillips would both score on Meister’s single. Meister would later come home as part of a double steal.
Meanwhile, Hersey’s Riley Blackwell came on in the fourth to completely shut the door on the Broncos. The junior left handed retired all 12 batters he faced, striking out five along the way.
“I just do what I can to help the team get some wins,” Blackwell said. “I wasn’t concerned about not giving up a hit. I was just trying to get them out and do my job.”
The loss moved 10-time defending MSL West champion Barrington (9-5-1, 1-2) to two games behind Schaumburg.
“We have to find our identity,” Wire said. “We started out with some good stuff. But I feel that it has been a reluctance to details. But we don’t look at the standings. We just have to find ourselves to where we are at.”