Buffalo Grove's wild win ties up MSL East race

Tommy Ricciardi had already done his part with his bat with 2 home runs for Buffalo Grove in Monday's wild Mid-Suburban East baseball showdown with Hersey.

So the junior catcher figured he'd use it to pass on a little luck to teammate Ryan Nisbet as he came up with the tying runs at second and third and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.

"I had him touch my bat (with his) before I went up at the end," said Nisbet, who had struck out in his previous two at-bats. "He's asked me to do it before. It's a give-and-take."

Nisbet gave BG (15-10, 8-4) a game-tying double and three batters later it took a stunning 17-16 victory on a two-out error to move into a three-way tie for the East lead with Hersey (20-8, 8-4) and Prospect (15-9, 8-4).

Two scoreless relief innings from Cody Iverson and a 5-run seventh capped a comeback from deficits of 10-3 after 21/2 innings and 16-10 after 51/2 innings for BG, which hosts Prospect at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"We're a hard-fighting team," said BG senior Jeremy Salzman, who went 4-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI in a game that had 35 hits and 6 homers with the wind blowing out at 25 mph. "We'll never go down without a fight and that's been our thing this whole year.

"We've had a lot of comeback wins. It's a great feeling."

Not so for Hersey, which pulled off a 7-6 comeback win in 9 innings in the first meeting with BG.

"Coach 'Kell' (assistant Kevin Kelley) said you never thought you wouldn't feel comfortable with 16 runs," said Hersey senior Domenic Biagini, who went 4-for-5 with a homer and 5 RBI. "You usually feel good when you score 16, but with the wind they way it was -

"Both teams up and down the lineup, there are no easy outs in either lineup."

Hersey reliever Mike Ozga retired the first hitter in the seventh when Ricciardi homered to left. His 3-run blast in a 6-run third got BG within 10-9.

"Baseball is a crazy game," said Ricciardi, who has 4 homers. "You never give up in baseball. That's one thing my grandpa (Fred Krzysik) always told me.

"Every game, no matter how many runs you're down, you're always in it."

After a ball to sophomore shortstop Jake Monson, Hersey coach Bob Huber brought in ace Steve Danielak (6-3). Monson lined a 1-2 single to left and junior pinch hitter Kevin Tennenbaum lined a 2-2 single to right-center.

Sophomore Jimmy Pinakidis had an RBI double into the right-field corner and Nisbet dropped his tying double off the end of the bat in front of Biagini in left.

"In BP (batting practice) I felt pretty good, but when I got up there I wasn't seeing the ball how I like to," Nisbet said. "Luckily Tommy Ricciardi had a great day."

Biagini made a tremendous running catch in foul territory in the left-field corner on Steve Pollakov for the second out. Salzman was intentionally walked for Andrew Van Wazer, who had a 3-run homer in the first and an RBI single in the third.

Van Wazer hit a little roller along the first-base line but Danielak's throw over him got away and Nisbet came in from second with the winning run.

"I said in the fourth inning one of the best things about our team is we fight back and that's exactly what we did," said BG coach Jeff Grybash.

Alex Gelabert (3-for-4, 4 RBI) and Joe Perricone (3-for-5) also homered for Hersey in its 19-hit attack. Danielak, Jay Livesay and Chris Polinski had 2 hits, Alex Lee had 2 RBI and Jake Knauss had an RBI.

The unsung hero for BG was Iverson, as the submarining junior righty shut down the Huskies. Sophomore second baseman Jake Fanella and Monson turned an inning-ending double play with runners at first and third in the sixth and Iverson pitched a perfect seventh.

"My brothter (pitching coach Dan), the first thing he says is 'Evil Beard' did a great job," Jeff Grybash said with a laugh of Iverson's nickname. "With Cody, if he throws strikes, he's hard to hit."

Fremd 4, Barrington 3 (9 inn.): Zenon Kolakowski returned from missing a week with an injured wrist to drive in the tiebreaking run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth for MSL West leader Fremd (15-10, 10-2).

Kolakowski also had a two-out, 2-run single in the fourth for the Vikings, who can clinch their second straight West title with a win at Palatine (14-12, 7-5) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Sean Stutzman (3-for-4, RBI) went the first 7 innings and scored the winning run and Kevin Ciardiello and Evan Wright had 2 hits. Kurt Kaufman got the win with 2 innings of relief and got out of a first-and-second, one-out jam in the bottom of the ninth.

Derek Foderaro went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Jim Cook and John O'Connell had 2 hits for Barrington (15-13, 6-6).

Prospect 10, Elk Grove 0 (5 inn.): Sophomore Jack Landwehr (3-0) allowed only a first-inning single as Prospect (15-9, 8-4) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the MSL East.

John Coen went 3-for-3, Thomas Kelly had 2 doubles and 2 RBI and Kyle Kapka went 2-for-2 for the Knights.

Palatine 10, Schaumburg 5: Joe Campe had 3 hits and Palatine (14-12, 7-5) got 2 hits apiece from Dan Haze (3 RBI), Cody Bobbit (2 RBI), Kevin Klein and Kurt Becker in the MSL West. Mark Bielanski, Kevin Hilliard and Matt Brancato had 2 hits for Schaumburg (7-14, 3-9).

Meadows 6, Wheeling 1: Sophomore Eric Lowe (4-3) threw a 4-hitter with 4 strikeouts and 5 walks for Rolling Meadows (8-18, 6-6) in the MSL East. Matt Hendricks (3-for-4) and Kevin Cwynar (2-for-4) drove in runs and John Bonell had a 2-run triple.

Conant 8, Hoffman 6: Kyle Gizynski drove in 2 runs in a 4-run sixth as Conant (10-9, 4-8) erased a 5-4 deficit in the MSL West. Joe Belmonte had 2 doubles for the Cougars as Hoffman (13-15, 6-6) lost for the fifth time in six MSL games.

Marist 7, St. Viator 5: Rick Perotti homered and had 2 RBI for St. Viator (15-11, 7-6) as visiting Marist (13-16, 5-8) rallied for the East Suburban Catholic Conference win with a 4-run sixth.