Huntley picks up another regional title
Even after cruising to a 21-1 win against Larkin in Thursday's semifinals of the Class 4A Jacobs regional, Huntley baseball coach Andy Jakubowski wasn't happy with his team's situational hitting or fundamental play.
So, the top-seeded Red Raiders worked at getting better in those areas in practice Friday.
The practice paid off.
Executing 3 sacrifice bunts and scoring 4 runs on sacrifice flies, Jakubowski lauded his top-seeded team's situational hitting and fundamental play after an 11-1 win over second-seeded Crystal Lake South in the regional championship game Saturday morning in Algonquin.
The Red Raiders (26-9), who won their second straight regional, will meet Hononegah Wednesday in the Larkin sectional. Hononegah upended Rockford Boylan 6-1 Saturday to win the Harlem regional.
"We really worked in those areas Friday and the kids came ready to play today with passion and a purpose," said Jakubowski. "The kids really executed well offensively. "
The Gators solved Huntley's Jeremy Ahillen early with a run in the first on an RBI double by Chris Hauser. Ahillen settled down and blanked the Gators the final five innings on 2 singles. In 6 innings, he struck out two and walked one.
"I am not a strikeout pitcher and don't have to be because I have a great defense behind me," said Ahillen. "I totally trust them to make all the plays.
With Ahillen excelling on the mound, the Huntley offense pounded three Gator pitchers for 12 hits while scoring 11 runs.
After spotting South (21-15) a run in the top of the first, Huntley came back with two in the bottom of the inning.
Andre Sopena led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Carlos Alvarez, who was safe on a throwing error. Sopena moved to third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Klein. Huntley took the lead 2-1 for good on an RBI single by Phil Pupillo.
The Raiders added single runs in the third on an RBI single by Bryce Only and in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Sopena. The Red Raiders scored two more in the fifth on an RBI single from Only and a sacrifice fly by Collin Lyman.
Huntley won the game in the sixth with 5 runs courtesy of a 2-run single by Tom Crohan, RBI singles by Only and Lyman and a game-winning sacrifice fly by Matt Szytz.
Only paced the Red Raiders with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Pupillo and Crohan added 2 hits and 2 RBI apiece.
"We lost seven starters from last season, but our motto all season is to reload and have another good team," said Pupillo. "We have really come together as a team."
Crystal Lake South coach Brian Bogda praised his team's effort.
"We had a good approach at the plate, but we hit a lot of balls right at them," he said. "Give them credit; Huntley really swung the bats."