Baseball: Clutch hitting lifts Barrington over Prospect
It was feast or famine for Barrington with two outs Friday.
The Broncos scored all 10 of their runs with two outs against Prospect in their 10-6 victory over the Knights in Mt. Prospect.
“We have had epic showdowns here,” said Barrington coach Pat Wire, who also left 10 runners on base, including 8 in scoring position.
“There were times when I was very excited when we did score with two outs. Then there were times when it was maddening because we should have been able to break it open.”
The win kept Barrington (17-7-1, 9-3) in the race for the MSL title. The Broncos trail Fremd (22-0-1, 12-0), who beat Wheeling 13-2 Friday, by three games with four conference games to play.
The game began with the scoreboard at Prospect in a tilt mode as each team scored four runs in their first at-bat.
Barrington’s runs came thanks to a wild pitch strikeout that allowed Julian Ashley-Friedman to reach. The Broncos all took advantage on an error and a two-run single by Peter Ensign, the first of his two hits.
Prospect (15-9-1, 7-5) used four hits in its half of the inning to tie the game up. Jack Davis had an RBI double, John Aquino an RBI single, and he would later score on a wild pitch. Ken Munao also had an RBI single.
Barrington tallied single runs in each of the next three innings to surge ahead 7-4.
Aidan Gryzlo had a sacrifice fly to score Caid Heick, who had reached on his first of three singles.
Heick, who was 3-for-3 with a walk, has been red hot for the Broncos. Heick, who bats ninth, also walked and scored two runs. Heick was coming off a game against Fremd on Wednesday where he had two hits in his last two at-bats.
“I have just been putting in the work,” said Heick, who is a senior. “I have been working as hard as I can do to get better. I know if I get on base, I can swing it back to the top of the order.”
Jackson Roberts, who bats first, also had a huge game. The sophomore had three hits, two RBI and a run scored. He also had a pair of fine defensive plays at short.
Roberts’ single in the fourth drove in Jack Swarbrick, who had two hits in the game.
“It feels real good,” Roberts said. “I am swinging it real well right now. I am feeling confident and ready to go.”
Ensign’s second hit of the game in the fourth drove in Zach Ostergaard, who was hit by a pitch and stole a base.
Down by three, Prospect tried to climb back into the game. The Knights tallied a run as Louie Caldrone walked, stole second and scored on Aquino’s single.
But a baserunning gaffe in that inning and another in the sixth hurt the Knights. Both helped squash possible rallies.
Prospect, which is now two games behind Hersey (20-5-1, 9-3) after the Huskies beat Schaumburg 11-0, picked up their final run in the seventh. Davis, who had his second hit of the game, would score on a throwing error.
“They got seven runs with two outs and nobody on,” Prospect coach Ross Giusti said. “If we don’t concentrate from here on out and get back in the dugout, we don’t stand a chance.”