Liebman, Huntley raid Wauconda with 8-4 nonconference win

Huntley pitcher Zach Liebman called his curveball only "subpar."

The pitch left Wauconda feeling subpar, however.

"His curveball was sick," said junior Jeff Jackson, who bats cleanup for Wauconda and has verbally committed to Arizona State. "He threw first-pitch curveballs and kept us off balance."

As a result, Liebman improved to 3-0 and visiting Huntley hiked its record to 9-1-1 thanks to an 8-4 nonconference win over Wauconda on Saturday.

For Wauconda (5-3), it was the Bulldogs' third straight loss.

Liebman allowed only 4 hits (all singles) and struck out five in 6 innings. All 4 runs he allowed were unearned.

"My changeup was definitely working to the (Nos.) 2-3-4 hitters," Liebman said. "They rolled over or struck out. Then I worked backward with the fastball."

Liebman helped his own cause by hitting a 2-run double in the first inning, and the Red Raiders never let up offensively, scoring in every inning except the sixth. They pounded out 12 hits, with leadoff-hitter Craig Lipp, Chris Klein and No. 9-batter Jordan Contreras each collecting a pair.

Lipp and Phil Pupillo had back-to-back doubles in the fourth, as Huntley built its lead to 5-0.

In the Red Raiders' 2-run third, Nathan Sopena and Tanner Funke executed a double steal.

"I thought today was our best day in terms of execution - our bunts, our hit-and-runs, stealing," Red Raiders coach Andy Jakubowski said. "We scored in six out of seven innings. Granted, we put only a run or two up, but I thought we did a real nice job, especially with our two-strike approach and our two-out hitting."

Wauconda committed 6 errors, with starting pitcher Ted Litberg yielding 7 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings.

"Just too many errors - routine plays that have to be made at the varsity level," Bulldogs coach Bill Sliker said. "You're not going to put many W's on the board when you have 6 errors."

Wauconda, which scored an unearned run in the fourth, finally got to Liebman in the sixth. One out after Brandon Dill reached on an error, the Bulldogs got consecutive singles from Mike Mrohen (2 runs scored), Litberg and Bryce Lahrman. Jackson's RBI groundout pulled Wauconda within 7-4, but Liebman got the next batter on a comebacker to end the inning.

"I didn't do that bad in the sixth," Liebman said. "I just left the ball up a little bit."

Ultimately, the Red Raiders left Wauconda with another well-earned victory.

"We're playing together as a team," Liebman said. "No one's getting down, and we're picking each other up."