Baseball: Barrington flexes its muscles in nonconference victory against Burlington Central
Burlington Central catcher Liam Schultz spends three mornings a week lifting weights with his football teammates.
Schultz flexed plenty of power Friday afternoon when the Rockets traveled to Barrington for a nonconference baseball matchup against the Broncos. Entering the day with one home run in his team’s first four games, Schultz pounded two of them and finished 3 for 4 with a bunt single atop the batting order, but Barrington won 8-3.
“I try to lift three or four times a week and stay athletic,” Schultz said. “I was really trying to stay simple and drive the ball the other way. If I’m early on the fastball, then I’ll take the two home runs.”
Schultz was one of two left-handed sluggers doing damage Friday. Barrington cleanup batter Will Steffens, who went 4 for 4 with three extra-base hits, blasted a one-out RBI double to the right-field wall to put the Broncos (3-2) ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Steffens doubled twice and finished with three RBI for the Broncos.
His biggest knock came in the bottom of the third, when he cranked an 0-2 pitch from Burlington Central’s Daniel Koertgen to the center-field wall. A collision at the wall allowed Steffens to speed around the bases, touching all four as he completed a inside-the-park home run.
“I’m trying to hit the ball hard and help the team out,” Steffens said. “I got a couple of pitches over the plate and I was able to hit them. I fouled off two fastballs and he gave me another one. I thought it was gone off the bat, but I saw it bounce off the wall, so I kept going.”
Barrington scored in all but one inning during Friday’s opener. Quinn Blue’s two-run single up the middle gave the Broncos a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. After Steffens’ homer in the third, Bowie Heintz lofted a sacrifice fly to center and scored a run in the fourth.
Tommy Abbatemarco’s infield single led to two Barrington runs in the sixth. On the mound, left-hander Dylan Ignacek leaned on a changeup to keep the Rockets off balance. The senior struck out seven and held Burlington Central (2-2-1) to a run on three hits over four innings.
“I had a good feel for all three pitches,” Ignacek said. “I really tried pitching to contact and trusting my infield and outfield. I really had my changeup early in the count and I could throw it anywhere. This is the first year I’ve really had a changeup and it’s really nice to have.”
With the wind at his back, Schultz launched the first of his two home runs well beyond the right-field wall to put the Rockets on the board in the top of the third. His second came on a 1-2 pitch in the seventh. Burlington Central, which finished with six hits, brought Barrington within four after Jimmy Leppert’s RBI single in the top of the fifth.
Koertgen, who relieved starter Aidric Arndt with two outs in the third, deployed a mixture of off-speed pitches to keep the Rockets close. The left-handed junior struck out three over three innings of relief and escaped jams in both the third and fourth innings. Koertgen tossed a scoreless fifth, Barrington’s lone scoreless half.
“My approach was just to throw strikes, get the ball over the plate and let them hit it to my teammates so we could make plays,” Koertgen said. “On the lefties, I was really striking with my curveball first and trying to keep them off balance … I don’t throw the hardest, so I’m a funky pitcher who’s just trying to get the ball over the plate.”
Wagner Viebrock and Thomas Koertgen each notched singles for the Rockets, who will host Belvidere North for a nonconference game on Wednesday. Blue went 2 for 4, while Heintz went 2 for 3 and scored two runs for the Broncos, who play Jacobs at home Thursday evening.