Cary-Grove rallies past Prospect
Cary-Grove and host Prospect played a wild early-season game Tuesday afternoon at sun-kissed Larry Pohlman Field.
The Trojans couldn’t sniff a run in the first four innings against Knights ace Jack Landwehr, but the final four frames were a different story entirely.
The visitors banged out 7 extra base hits to score an 11-9 come-from-behind extra-inning victory.
“We talked all day about that,” said Cary-Grove’s Nick Beyer of facing senior Landwehr, who was 14-2 last season as the Knights finished third in state. “We were surprised they took him out (after four innings of work), but we knew we had a better chance once we got down to their second and third pitchers.”
Beyer had the big hit for Cary Grove, a long 3-run homer in the top of the eighth.
“It was a 2-0 fastball,” said Beyer of the home run pitch that won the game for the Trojans. “He (the Prospect pitcher) was trying to get a strike on me, and I was just trying to put the ball in play.”
Cary-Grove starter Ryan Kaveney, a lefty, matched Landwehr pitched for pitch in the early going, but Prospect broke through with two in the fourth and four in the fifth, with junior outfielder Dan Kavanaugh (3 hits) leading the way with a 2-run shot over the left-field fence.
Daniel Vilardo (home run, 2 doubles and a single), Jeremy Vasquez, Dylan McDonough, Zach Marszal and Beyer all had multiple hit games as Cary-Grove grabbed an 8-7 seventh-inning lead, but Prospect (0-1) first baseman Jake Loguidce banged on a two-out, game-tying single to send the games to extras.
Beyer’s eighth-inning heroics gave the Trojans the lead — then Cary-Grove had to hang on as Prospect plated one in the bottom of the eighth and had the bases loaded with only one out.
Marszal, on in relief, slammed the door with a game ending 1-2-3 double play.
“We’re a very young team,” said Cary-Grove (3-1) coach Don Sutherland. “We’ve only got one returning starter from last year, and he was out today with an injury.
“Playing in close, tight games like this early in the season is going to be important to our team’s success. We’re excited to be getting this experience.”
Landwehr and Zach Tuczak each recorded 2 hits for the Knights.
“It was a crazy day today — back and forth all the way,” said Prospect coach Ross Giusti. “I’m really proud of the way our kids kept battling back.”
“In the early going like this, anyone who puts a premium on the number of runs you score or wins and losses is being ridiculous. It’s all about learning and getting the kids some experience.”