Huntley breaks out the big bats yet again
The ear-piercing ping of an aluminum bat has become the preeminent sound in Huntley this spring.
The Red Raiders entered Thursday's Fox Valley Conference crossover against visiting Crystal Lake South averaging 9 runs a game. Huntley pinged out 12 more hits and played errorless defense to back winning pitcher Zach Liebman in a 10-5 victory that improved its record to 11-1-1 this season. Huntley's only loss was to Rockford Boylan, 2-1 on April 7.
"I think this was a big step for us," said senior center fielder Craig Lipp, who went 1-for-4 with a 2-run double. "They're a good team, so it's good to know we can beat a good team like this. Beating a team like this raises our confidence."
The first four hitters in coach Andy Jakubowski's batting order - Lipp, Phil Pupillo, Chris Klein and Jimmy Gordon - combined to go 8-for-13 with 8 RBI and 7 runs scored against three pitchers from CL South (9-5).
Gordon was the lynchpin. The senior catcher went 2-for-3 and drove in 4 runs.
"I'm not an offensive player," Gordon insisted. "Every year I've been here coach has told me I'm here to catch. I just go out there and want to hit something and try to get on base."
Gordon's one-out double to the left-field corner in the first inning gave the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead, but it didn't last.
SIU-Edwardsville-bound James Vazquez knotted the game 2-2 in the top of the third, when he lined a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left field.
"Basically, I was looking fastball from Liebman," said Vazquez, who also doubled, singled and hit a sacrifice fly to score a run. "He's a very good pitcher and has a very good curveball. I was just looking for the first fastball I saw. It happened to be over and I hit a line drive like coach has been telling us."
Huntley restored its 2-run lead in its half the third. Klein led off with a single deep to the hole at shortstop. He later advanced all the way to third when Tyler Pliner's pickoff attempt sailed down the right-field line. Gordon then singled to center field to put the Red Raiders ahead 3-2 and later scored on a Nate Sopena basehit up the middle against the drawn-in CL South infield.
Huntley broke open a 5-3 game in the fifth inning with a 4-run outburst. Lipp socked a 2-run double to left-center field and Pupillo followed with a towering 2-run home run to center to establish a 9-3 Huntley lead.
Liebman left after 51/3 innings in which he allowed 5 earned runs on 8 hits but improved to 4-0. Huntley ace Tanner Funke relieved in the sixth and allowed 2 inherited runners to score, but he struck out the side in the seventh to end the game after the first two hitters had reached base.
"Huntley's a good team," CL South coach Brian Bogda said. "They did a nice job. Pitching-wise they were on and they made the plays in the field. I don't want to take any credit from them because they just outplayed us today, but we made too many mistakes in the field (3 errors).
"But that's baseball. We'll be all right. Tomorrow's a new day."
Crystal Lake South will try to bounce back against visiting Grayslake North on Saturday. Huntley will next play at Jacobs Saturday in what could be a playoff preview. The two schools will compete in the same Class 4A regional at a site yet to be determined.