Baseball/Fox Valley roundup
Huntley 7, Crystal Lake South 6: The No. 1 team in the Daily Herald Top 20 jumped to leads of 5-0 and 7-2 and held off the sixth-ranked Gators to remain atop the division. Senior Bryce Only went 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI and scored twice. Colin Lyman and Mark Skonieczny each delivered 2 of the Red Raiders’ 10 hits. Eric Luecht was the winning pitcher for Huntley (17-2, 10-2). He allowed 5 earned runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in 5 innings. Adam Kalish notched the save with 2 scoreless innings. Four of the Gators 8 hits were for extra bases, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit for CL South (11-4, 8-4).
Grayslake North 13, Jacobs 5: The Knights blitzed the visiting Golden Eagles with 13 runs on 11 hits, assisted by 5 Jacobs errors. Only 5 Grayslake North runs were earned against four Golden Eagles hurlers. Ryan Sargent absorbed the loss, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits in 2 innings. Greg Sidor doubled, homered, drove in 2 runs and scored 3 runs for Jacobs (14-6, 6-4). Winning pitcher Adam Gomski allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits, struck out 5 and walked 1 in 5 innings for FVC Fox co-leader Grayslake North (10-4, 7-5).
Hampshire 8, South Elgin 6: Colin Gogoel (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Brandon Bowen (3-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) led offensive-minded Hampshire (8-9) in a 13-hit nonconference victory. Winning pitcher Dillon Kuhn (2-1) scattered 7 hits over 6 innings. He allowed 5 runs (2 earned), struck out 2 and walked 4. Brandon Wescher allowed 1 earned run but completed the save by stranding the tying runs at first and second via a strikeout and flyout. Tyler Christensen went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for South Elgin (9-8).
Elgin 10, East Aurora 0: The Maroons jumped to a 5-0, first-inning lead and cruised to the five-inning Upstate Eight River victory on the strength of Dean Anderson’s 1-hitter. Anderson struck out 5 and walked 3. Offensive contributors for Elgin (6-12, 5-10) included Ethan Henke (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI), Alex Buttell (2-for-3, 2B, RBI), Nick Turner (2B) and Omar Valadez (2-for-3).
Batavia 7, Larkin 1: The Bulldogs used a 4-run sixth inning to pull away for this Upstate Eight River win in Elgin. John Jowaski (0-3) took the loss. He allowed 5 earned runs on9 hits, struck out 4 and walked 1 in 5 innings. Larkin (6-11, 3-10) was limited to 4 hits.
Geneva 9, Streamwood 1: Eric Hamlin had a double and Michael Murawski went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Sabres in the UEC River. Kevin Sojda was the losing pitcher.
Chicago Christian 2, St. Edward 0: Chicago Christian junior Josh Novak fired a 2-hitter to upstage St. Edward starting pitcher Jacob Koehring’s 4-hit performance in a showdown between two Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division contenders at Wing Park in Elgin. Novak struck out 6 and walked 4 for Chicago Christian (19-3, 9-2), while Koehring (3-2) struck out 4 and walked 3 for St. Edward (11-6, 9-3). Both went the distance. Ryan Nudd and Kevin Lamp mustered the only hits for the Green Wave.
Elgin Academy 10, University High: The Hilltoppers remained unbeaten, thanks to a 2-run uprising in the bottom of the seventh inning of this Independent School League victory. The late comeback was necessary after U-High rallied from an 8-0 deficit and took a 1-run lead in the top of the seventh. Karl Raushenberger (3-for-4, double), Jeffrey Tang (3-for-3, 2 doubles, 3 RBI) and Mike Grebek (double) led the 8-hit attack for Elgin Academy (3-0, 3-0). Winning pitcher Max Swienton allowed 4 runs on 4 hits, walked 2 and struck out 7 in 4 innings.
Christian Liberty Academy 14, Westminster Christian 13: The Warriors lost a wild Northeast Conference tilt in Elgin, though they outhit Christian Liberty 16-14, led by home runs from Clay DeHaan and Jarrett Mueller. The Warriors scored 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings, but CLA scored 3 runs in the top of the eighth. A 2-run rally by Westminster Christian (5-6, 5-2) in the bottom of the inning fell short when a fielder’s choice ended the game with the tying run on second base.
College baseball
Elgin Community College 14, Joliet Junior College 3: Jake Razo (2-for-4, BB, 4 runs, RBI) and Nate Pearson (1-for-5, RBI, run) each doubled and Lee Jackson went 2-for-3, scored once and drove in a run for ECC (24-17-1). Bobby Thorson (4-3) held Joliet scoreless on 2 hits in 5 innings. He struck out 2 and issued a walk.