Villardo’s hit lifts Cary-Grove over Huntley

Daniel Villardo was just trying to make contact and hit the ball hard.

Villardo got more than he could bargain for.

Villardo’s RBI single in the seventh inning was the game-winner as Cary-Grove came from behind for a 4-3 win over Huntley in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in Cary Thursday afternoon.

Villardo’s dramatic hit came on the first pitch from Huntley reliever Justin Gundlach.

“I figured he would throw first pitch fastball,” said Villardo. “I wanted to be aggressive and get a good pitch to hit. It is exciting to get the game-winning hit.””

Cary-Grove (19-9, 12-3) entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing Huntley 3-2. Leadoff hitter Dylan McDonough drilled a double to left field for his second hit of the game. Pinch hitter Ryan Slaughter was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Matt Byrne, who had a 13-pitch at-bat, finally coaxed a walk from Huntley reliever Dan Lowry to load the bases.

Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski relieved Lowry with Gundlach. The first batter Gundlach faced was Jeremy Vasquez who grounded to second, but McDonough was able to score to tie the game at 3.

Zach Marszal, the winning pitcher, was intentionally walked to re load the bases, which set up Villardo’s dramatics. Lowry, who shut out Cary-Grove for 3 innings in relief of Jake Perkins, absorbed the loss.

“Sure, Danny got the big hit and had a great at-bat,” said Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland. “We had a lot of heroes in the last inning. Dylan McDonough had a big hit, Matt Byrne fouled off pitch after pitch before getting a big walk and Jeremy Vasquez did a great job of getting the tying run in.”

Cary-Grove scored first with 2 in the third aided by am RBI single by Villardo. Huntley (16-14, 8-8), which left 7 on base in the game, scored 3 in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead. Bryce Only, who was a perfect 3-of-3 in the game, had an RBI double while the Red Raiders took the lead on a run-scoring double by Jordan Chuipek.

“Today’s game was a microcosm of our season,” said Jakubowski. “We had five chances to get bunts down in the game and didn’t execute any of them. There were plenty of bright spots today. Bryce Only really swung the bat well and Dan Lowry pitched great in relief and kept us in the game.”