Streamwood surprises Neuqua Valley
The Streamwood baseball team did its best work when pressed Thursday.
After Neuqua Valley scored twice in the top of the fifth inning to pull within 5-4, the Sabres responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth and sent 10-men to the plate in a 6-run sixth to send the Wildcats home with a 14-4 defeat in six innings.
The victory marked the first time Streamwood has defeated Neuqua Valley by the 10-run rule since the Wildcats joined the Upstate Eight Conference in 1998-99.
"We just exploded there at the end and it was kind of contagious," Streamwood junior Josh Harris said. "Once one guy started hitting everyone started to pick it up. It was a good team effort."
Streamwood (10-6, 4-3) was aggressive throughout. The Sabres amassed 18 hits and stole 5 bases in 6 attempts. No. 5 hitter Tim Cohen went 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored, and leadoff man Nate Pearson finished 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. He reached base in all 5 plate appearances.
"It's crazy," Pearson said of the late flurry of runs. "We have a lot to look forward to this year. We're young, but we're a good team. We come out every game firing. It was a good win today."
It was a game to forget for Neuqua Valley, which managed 7 hits against Streamwood starting pitcher Blake Hunter (4-0), made 3 fielding errors and allowed 12 earned runs.
"What I told the guys was we didn't pitch very well at all, we didn't defend very well at all and we didn't hit very well," Wildcats coach Robin Renner said. "When those three things happen you lose games. It's simple as that. Until we pick up a ball, get some outs on the hill, swing the bats and run some bases we're going to continue to struggle."
Neuqua Valley (9-6, 5-4) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a 2-run home run by Cody Cooper, but the Sabres wrested the lead away with 4 runs in the second inning, helped by 2 Wildcats errors. Pearson's 2-run double keyed the rally.
A sacrifice fly by Cooper and Chris Medhurst's RBI single helped Neuqua Valley pull within a run in the fifth. The uprising had Hunter on the ropes.
"Someone started warming up in the bullpen and I said to myself, 'I'm not coming out; I want to finish this game'" Hunter said. "I got back to it, started throwing harder, got my strikeouts and it all fell together."
Hunter went on to retire the last four hitters he faced. In 6 innings and 118 pitches, he allowed 4 earned runs on 7 hits, struck out eight and walked two.
Harris, a left-handed hitter, gave Streamwood breathing room in the fifth when he drove an 0-1 fastball from lefty Jason Avallone over the left-field wall for a 3-run, opposite-field home run, staking his team to an 8-4 lead.
The Sabres poured it on in the sixth with 5 more hits, including a 2-run single by designated hitter Mike Diebold. The game ended on Pearson's bloop single with the bases loaded, which invoked the 10-run rule.