Baseball: Hersey overcomes more adversity to edge Schaumburg

The grind continues to get tougher for Hersey. But the Huskies continue to shoulder on.

Hersey overcame a pair of new injuries to key players to win its third in a row Friday, holding off Schaumburg 3-2 in Schaumburg.

“We have had a lot of adversity,” said Hersey coach Wally Brownley, whose team has now won six of their seven games.

“We are just a little bumped and bruised. We just found a way today to grind.”

The injury bug, which struck the Huskies at the start of the season, reared its ugly head again this past week.

Hersey lost Chuck Meister for the remainder of the season with a knee injury while catcher Bryk Barnard did not play all week after re-injuring his shoulder April 12. And shortstop Evan Fahey got hit in the forehead in the game with a ball that bounced off his helmet and had to leave the game.

But the Huskies got a huge performance for junior lefthander Riley Blackwell.

Making his first varsity start, Blackwell went six innings and allowed just one run, which was unearned. He allowed four hits and struck out nine, including the final three batters he faced.

“That was a lot of fun,” Blackwell said. “I know my stuff was going to play in the wind today. I’m a lefty and the wind was working with me.”

Brownley said that Blackwell’s performance came at the right time.

“Riley really stepped up,” Brownley said. “He earned the start today. He is a strike throwing kid. He is a pitcher. Not that he doesn’t throw hard, because he certainly does. But he is a kid that mixes in a lot of pitches and throws strikes.”

Blackwell stepped into a rotation that has missed Keegan Luxem, who has yet to be on the bump this season due to arm injury.

But Luxem, who has worked his way back onto the field, was part of a key play that gave Hersey (10-6, 6-0) its eventual winning run.

Leading 2-1 in the top of the seventh, Marcus Krecu, who had two hits on the day, led off with a single. He was bunted to second by Will Hickey and Krecu went to third on Luxem’s single.

Krecu was then replaced at third by Jeremy Allen, who normally just pitches for the Huskies.

Luxem, who was on first, then walked off the base, moving slowly toward second. He promptly drew a throw and got himself hung up between the bases. When Schaumburg threw back to first base, Allen knew it was his time.

“I knew their first baseman was left-handed,” Allen said. “And being a pitcher, even though I an a right-hander, I know how hard it is for a lefty to run toward second and throw home. It would have to be a perfect throw.”

Allen’s speed, coupled with a throw that was bit offline, allowed Allen to make a sweet slide to beat the tag and give the Huskies a 3-1 lead.

Schaumburg (11-5, 3-3) was able to tally a run in the bottom of the inning. Zach Miller singled and courtesy runner Lucas Wagener would later score on a balk. Huskies reliever Matt Lemke then retired the final two Saxons to preserve the win.

Hersey took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Krecu, scoring Brandon Pflom, who had a controversial triple to lead off the inning. Schaumburg felt that one of their outfielders had caught his hit on a fly.

The Saxons tied the game in their half of the inning. Lucas Tillotson, who had singled with two outs, would score on an infield error.

Hersey took a 2-1 lead in its following at-bat. Luxem, who had two hits in the game, scored on Drew Phillips’ second hit of the day.

Schaumburg coach Nick Kostalek, whose Saxons lost a pair of games earlier this week to Conant, said his team just came up short.

“We just couldn’t get a run when we needed it,” Kostalek said. “We continue to fight. We are building each day. We will continue to do that.”