Baseball/Fox Valley roundup
South Elgin 2, Waubonsie Valley 1: Junior Ryan Nuthof won a pitchers duel against Waubonsie Valley senior Julian Langford in Upstate Eight Valley action in Aurora. Each pitcher held the opponent to 2 hits in 8 innings. Nuthof (2-0) limited the Warriors to 1 earned run, struck out 10 and walked 1.
Waubonsie Valley (10-6, 8-3) tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh on a one-out groundout, but the Storm manufactured the winning run in the top of the eighth when David Goins was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on Tyler Christensen’s sacrifice bunt, moved to third on Nuthof’s groundout and scored on a wild pitch. Joe Crivolio (double) and Nick Binder had the only hits for South Elgin (7-6, 6-4).
Bartlett 17, East Aurora 1: The Hawks used an 11-run fourth inning to seal this five-inning Upstate Eight Valley home win and seize first place in the Upstate Eight Valley. Matt Vitulli’s 3-run home run gave Bartlett a 5-1 lead in the third inning. Vitulli went 2-for-4 with a double and 4 RBI, Ben Havel finished 2-for-2 with a double and 3 RBI and Matt Wick was 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice for Bartlett (10-2, 9-2), which won its eighth straight.
Hampshire 12, St. Edward 7: Host Hampshire outhit the Green Wave 9-6 and capitalized on 5 St. Edward errors to win this nonconference matchup. Danny Keller (2-1) earned the victory for Hampshire (6-7) by limiting the Wave to 4 earned runs on 4 hits in 4 innings. He struck out 7 and walked 5. The Whip-Purs were led offensively by Piotr Barnas (3-for-4, 2B, 3B, 3 runs), Brandon Wescher (1-for-3, 2B, 3 RBI) and Tyler Crater (2-for-3, 2B, 2 runs). Sophomore pitcher Alex Lara took the loss, allowing 7 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits in 3 innings. Tighe Koehring went 2-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI for St. Edward (10-4)
Genoa-Kingston 3, Burlington Central 0: Danny Gerke allowed 3 runs (0 earned) on 7 hits over 7 innings without issuing a walk and struck out 6, but the Rockets made 5 errors behind him to suffer their first Big Northern East loss. Blake Alexander singled and walked for Burlington Central (5-6, 4-1)
Crystal Lake Central 7, Cary-Grove 6: Cary-Grove snapped a 4-4 tie with 2 runs in the top of the seventh of this FVC crossover, but the host Tigers rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh, culminating in Parker Brown’s 2-run, walkoff double off Trojans reliever Zach Marszal (3-2). Cary-Grove (12-4, 6-2) was led offensively by Matt Ewert (3-for-3, HR), Daniel Vilardo (3-for-3, 2B, RBI) and Dean Lee (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI). Jake Van Scoyoc went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple and scored 3 runs for CL Central (7-6, 3-5).
Jacobs 4, Grayslake Central 2: Ryan Sargent held visiting Grayslake Central to 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits, walked 3 and struck out 7 in 6 innings, and Nick Ledinsky pitched a scoreless seventh to notch the save in this FVC crossover. Catcher Aaron Meciej went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI for Jacobs (13-3, 5-1).
Huntley 18, Johnsburg 5: Illinois recruit Mark Skonieczny hit his area-best sixth home run of the season and drove in 3 runs to improve his area-leading RBI total to 28 in this five-inning Fox Valley Conference crossover. Louisville-bound Colin Lyman doubled twice and drove in 3 runs, Kameron Sallee doubled twice and scored twice and Nebraska-bound Bryce Only went 3-for-3 with a double and 2 runs for Huntley (14-1, 7-1). Winning pitcher Eric Luecht allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings of work.
Prairie Ridge 10, Dundee-Crown 5: The Wolves outhit D-C 12-7 to win this FVC Valley contest. Zach Girard (3-for-4, 2B), Dylan Kissack (2-for-4, 2B) and Luis Garcia (2-for-3, 2 RBI) led the way offensively for Dundee-Crown (5-9, 3-6). Steven Ladd struck out 8 and allowed only 1 earned run in 5 innings for Prairie Ridge (14-4, 6-2).