Streamwood holds off Boylan

DeKALB — The Streamwood baseball players to a man will tell you their 8-7 victory over Rockford Boylan Wednesday was as ugly as they come.

They’ll also say it was one of the most beautiful things their young eyes have seen.

The Sabres managed the same number of hits as errors (3), and their top two pitchers allowed 10 hits combined, including 3 doubles and 3 home runs on a sunny, windswept afternoon in DeKalb.

However, they also patiently drew 13 walks, capitalized on 3 Boylan errors and used a double play to snuff out the comeback-minded Titans in the bottom of the seventh for a Class 4A sectional semifinal victory.

“It was crazy alright,” said Streamwood left-handed ace Josh Harris, who got the last four outs to earn his second save of the season. “I don’t know what we did to pull it out, but we did. We were focused on moving on to Saturday and somehow we got it done today.”

Now among the Sweet 16, the Sabres will compete in a sectional title game for the first time in the program’s 32-year history on Saturday at 11 a.m. Streamwood (29-6) will face the winner of today’s semfinal between Dundee-Crown (24-13) and Cary-Grove (27-9).

It was the second straight nail biter for the Sabres, who edged South Elgin by a run in 11 innings Saturday to win a regional title.

“That’s two games in a row where it’s just gone down to the wire,” said Streamwood starting pitcher Dalton Lundeen (7-1). “I can’t handle it anymore.”

Streamwood scored twice in the top of the seventh to increase its lead to 8-5. Patrick Manning fisted a bloop single over reliever R.J. Roberts’ head with the bases loaded to drive in a run. Leading hitter Richie Gorski, a junior, was subsequently grazed by a pitch on the helmet, which forced in a second run.

Turned out, Streamwood needed both insurance markers in a big way.

Harris, who entered the game in relief in the sixth inning, gave up a leadoff single to Boylan’s Mark Garton. No. 6 hitter Jake Royster followed with a 2-run home run to right field, which cut the gap to 8-7 with no outs.

An errant throw from Streamwood shortstop Nate Pearson after he made a sprawling stab of Jake Painter’s grounder allowed the potential tying run to reach base for the Titans, but Harris induced a 2-hopper up the middle and second baseman Brandon Larkin-Guilfoyle turned it into an unassisted double play.

“I was so nervous out there,” Larkin-Guilfoyle said. “I’m just so happy that I got the job done.”

“It was a great turn by Brandon up the middle,” Harris said. “ That moved us with momentum to the end of the game.”

The end came when Harris caught No. 9 hitter Brandon Larson looking at curveball for strike three. Larson was already 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a run-scoring double.

Streamwood never trailed. the Sabres scored a pair of unearned in the first inning, thanks to two Boylan errors and 2 walks by junior starting pitcher Joe Kubera (4-3).

A second-inning error and 2 more Kubera walks prompted Boylan coach Chris Rozanski to use an early hook. He called for left-hander Bryan Engelsen to relieve, but the junior walked Larkin-Guilfoyle to force in a run, bulging Streamwood’s lead to 3-0. Engelsen walked 7 in 3⅔ innings of work.

“Our pitchers went too deep in counts, too many pitches,” Boylan coach Chris Rozanski said. “It’s a tough position for a young pitcher to get out of.”

Streamwood No. 9 hitter Nick Pryor drew a base on balls in each of his 4 plate appearances.

“Walks will get the job done,” Pryor said. “Patience is part of the game. We worked counts today as a team and that paid off.”

Larson’s solo home run to right center in the third inning and his RBI double in the fourth drew Boylan within 3-2, but the Sabres extended their lead with a 3-run fifth inning. Brandon Morrow doubled off Engelsen to record Streamwood’s first hit. He and Larkin-Guilfoyle scored on bases-loaded walks drawn by Bobby Post and Pryor. Pearson capped the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Harris.

The Titans clawed back within 6-5 in the sixth. Painter led off with a double against Lundeen, who struck out 10 in 5⅓ innings. He was lifted one out later in favor of senior Dominick Tatone, who induced a groundball for the second out. However, a windblown flyball to left field was dropped for an error, accounting for a Boylan run.

Harris entered the game only to see another catchable flyball, this time to right field, fall for hit due to strong winds. After intentionally walking Stoner, Harris coaxed a harmless popout to second base from Phil Toldo to preserve a 6-5 lead.

Combined, the two teams made 6 errors, walked 15 hitters, hit 2 batters and stranded 19 baserunners, 11 by Streamwood.

“Regardless of what it looked like, we get to move on,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said. “It’s one of those things. Sometimes it’s good to be lucky. I chalk this one up as an ugly win and we get to play Saturday. At this point that’s all that matters.”