Experienced Jacobs headed to sectional final
Having advanced to sectional finals each of the previous two seasons, Jacobs' experienced seniors understand the road to the Sweet 16 isn't pothole-free.
That's why no one panicked in the Jacobs dugout when the heavily favored Golden Eagles twice fell behind DeKalb by 2 runs in Wednesday's Class 4A sectional semifinal at Cary-Grove.
"We weren't very fazed because we knew we could hit these guys," Jacobs catcher Daniel Tenayuca said. "It finally showed up."
Jacobs, which entered sectional play batting .243, tied it with 2 runs in the third inning and took command with a 4-run fourth to dispatch DeKalb 7-4.
Jacobs (27-10) collected 12 hits compared to 10 hits for DeKalb (19-17) to advance to Saturday's sectional final at 11 a.m. The Golden Eagles will play the winner of Thursday's semifinal between McHenry (23-13) and Rockford Boylan (31-1-1).
"It wasn't our best game, but when you're in the playoffs you just want to survive and advance," Jacobs coach Jamie Murray said two days after his team defeated Cary-Grove 3-0 for a regional title. "We had a masterpiece the other day. Today, I thought we did pretty well swinging the bats, enough to get the victory."
The Barbs scored twice in the top of the first inning against Jacobs right-hander Ryan George, thanks to a bases-loaded infield single by Logan Haring and A.J. Hop's run-scoring single to right field.
The Golden Eagles cut it to 2-1 in their half of the first inning when Ryan Sargent doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Owen Oreskovich, but the Barbs extended their lead to 3-1 on Jake Kuykendall's third-inning solo blast that cleared the center-field wall.
The Golden Eagles responded in the bottom of the third inning. After a one-out double by Oreskovich and an infield single from Tenayuca, Stevie Krueger delivered a run-scoring single and Mike Addante tied the game 3-3 with a sacrifice fly.
DeKalb took its last lead in the top of the fourth when Hoyle's two-out single staked the Barbs to a 4-3 lead.
Jacobs' second comeback was sparked by an unlikely source in its 4-run fourth inning. Brenden Heiss, the Arkansas-committed hurler who has not pitched or played in the field since he was shut down due to injury in late April, pinch hit to open the inning. The junior laced an outside pitch from DeKalb starting pitcher Connor Hoyle (2-4) to right field for a single.
"It felt good," Heiss said. "I haven't been in the field much so I had to take the opportunity that I got and make the best of it."
Jacobs No. 9 hitter Tim Randl knotted the score at 4-4 when he doubled to drive in Heiss. The Golden Eagles bunched 5 of their hits together in the frame, including RBI singles by Matt Kozlak and Tenayuca.
"I think it finally all started clicking," Tenayuca said of the offense. "We were scratching at it and then we finally got that one hit and it just blew up like we knew it would."
The rally made a winner of George (7-0), who was touched for 4 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits, did not issue a walk and struck out 9.
"Was Georgie perfect? No," Murray said, "but he was competitive and he kept us right there."
Casey Dennison threw 2 scoreless innings before handing the baton to closer Johnny Rohde. The hard-throwing junior recorded his 11th save in 12 opportunities with a scoreless seventh.
Heiss warmed up during the game and would have pitched the seventh had it not been a save situation, his coach said. However, Sargent will start Saturday's title game in light of his stellar performance on Monday, when he shut out the prolific Cary-Grove offense on 2 hits.
"He's my guy," Murray said of Sargent. "How do you not give the ball back to him after what he did on Monday to that offense?"