Weber, Cary-Grove inch closer to FVC Valley title

Cary-Grove pitcher Kevin Weber couldn't throw his curveball for a strike against District 155 rival Crystal Lake South Thursday.

When he tried the occasional changeup "they hit the snot out of it," Weber said.

His fastball was another story, however.

The junior relied mainly on well-located heaters to hold the Gators to 1 run on 4 hits. Weber struck out 11 hitters and issued only 1 walk in 7 innings and improved to 8-0 this season with a 4-1 victory in Crystal Lake.

"I wasn't throwing my hardest but I told myself if I could locate my fastball where I wanted, they weren't going to hit it hard anywhere," Weber said. "And I had more than enough confidence in my defense to do the job from there."

The win allowed Cary-Grove (21-11, 16-6) to maintain a 1-game lead over Huntley in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference with 2 games to play. Huntley (22-9, 15-7) defeated visiting Dundee-Crown 6-1 Thursday to keep the Trojans from clinching at least a share of their third-straight FVC title.

Cary-Grove can clinch a title share with a win at Dundee-Crown today at 4:30 p.m., which was hardly a foregone conclusion in April after the Trojans split their first 14 games to open the season. They've since won 14 of 18 games and 4 in a row after sweeping 2-game sets from McHenry and CL South (19-13, 13-9).

"Our pitchers are pitching well now, our defense is coming around and our hitting has gone steadily up as far as batting averages," Cary-Grove coach Don Sutherland said. "All those small things add up to wins, traditionally. We were disappointed with some of those early losses and just kept at it."

The Trojans grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Chris Waylock led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Steve Mihalik and scored on a single by Eric Chandler (3-for-3).

Cary-Grove extended its lead to 3-0 in the second inning. Weber did himself a favor by lacing a two-out double to the left-field corner on a changeup by CL South starting pitcher Mike Benson (5-2), scoring Michael Vilardo and Steve Hapanovich.

"I was just trying to hit the ball hard with two outs, trying to be aggressive with runners in scoring position and not get myself in a hole," said Weber, who went 2-for-2 with a walk.

The Gators scored their only run in the third inning. Alex Macaulay singled home Easton Kowalski with two outs, but it was a rare moment of hope against Weber, who allowed only 2 more hits over the next four innings.

"He got in a good rhythm and was pitching with confidence," CL South coach Brian Bogda said of Weber. "He's won all his games this year and that's huge. He hits the zone, keeps it low and he has a good group of guys behind him. That was the difference today. I thought Benson did a nice job. Unfortunately, we just didn't hit for him."

Cary-Grove scored its final run on a crazy play in the fifth. With Chandler at second base after a double, Stu Gaulke sent a deep fly ball to the wall in left field. The ball bounced in and out of Macaulay's glove and over the fence for an apparent home run - "I definitely had it in my glove and knocked it over (the fence)," Macaulay said after the game - but the ball immediately rolled back under the fence and onto the playing field.

The umpires ruled the ball was still in play, so Gaulke ended up with an RBI triple instead of his second home run of the season.

"I thought it was gone," Gaulke said. "I was jogging to second. Oh well, it's a hit."