Baseball: Barrington thinks big, powers past Dundee-Crown

Barrington took the long approach to winning its opening game of the Class 4A baseball playoffs Friday.

The Broncos had 5 extra-base hits, including a pair of mammoth home runs as they eliminated Dundee-Crown 10-5 in a regional semifinal at Barrington.

Barrington (27-8), which has not won a regional title since 2009, will host Prairie Ridge for the regional title at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Expectations were that the game was going to be a low-scoring affair. It featured Brooks Gosswein from Barrington, who as a junior has attracted a lot of attention from Division I teams, and Dundee-Crown ace Dan Denz, who has signed with Memphis.

Barrington had other ideas, though. The Broncos, who were shut down a week ago by Auburn recruit Christian Camacho of Elk Grove in the Mid-Suburban League title game, learned from that defeat.

"We faced a very a good pitcher in Camacho last week," Wire said. "As I said before, the MSL title game prepares you for this type of situation. We have been in this moment and I felt pretty good."

So did Tristan Michaels, who had 2 hits, including a double and a pair of RBI.

"It felt good to get the offense going again," Michaels said. "We wanted to come out swinging and hit the ball hard.

"It helped us a lot playing against a guy like Camacho last week. We knew we were going to have to get ahead early and chase a pitcher this time."

Barrington did just that, striking for 3 runs in the bottom of the first.

Michaels ripped a double down the left-field line to score Collin Starvel, who had singled to lead off for the Broncos. Patrick Dehnert then followed with a double to the gap and later scored on Zack Balogh's single.

Gosswein, who sailed through the first two innings, could not escape a power Dundee-Crown lineup, either.

After a walk to Denz, Jim Welzien drilled a shot to left to pull the Chargers (16-16) to within one at 3-2.

The Broncos padded that lead in a huge way in their half of the third.

After Jimmy Day reached on an error, Balogh blasted a home run off the top of the scoreboard in left field to make it 5-2. Balogh, who had never homered in his school career, was a bit stunned by his shot.

"I have been teased in the dugout by my teammates, but I was finally able to put one over," said Balogh, who got the ball from a teammate.

"But it felt good. It was curveball down and in. I was kind of on my front foot and I kept my hands back."

The Broncos continued in the fourth when a double by Jeff Korus and a walk to Tyler Acosta ended Denz's pitching performance. Michaels had an RBI single, and Dehnert scored Acosta on a fielder's choice. Day then belted a blast to left-center that ended up in the creek behind the field as the Broncos opened up a 9-2 lead.

"It was great," said Day, who after the game was clutching the wet ball, evidence of his third homer of the season. "I switched up my approach a little bit. Sometimes I think I can hit the ball out every time. But this time I just waited."

The Chargers got a pair back in the fifth when they loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter. Sean Jay belted a gapper to left-center, scoring a pair of runs. But Acosta fielded it quickly and fired a relay to Balogh, who then threw home. Catcher Eric Kozlowski just got a sliding Nick Musielwicz to end the threat.

Dundee-Crown scored a run in the sixth on a throwing error to pull to within 9-5. Barrington bounced right back as Day singled home Michaels.

Dundee-Crown coach Jon Anderson was proud of the way his team battled after falling behind early.

"That's the way you have to play in baseball," Anderson said. "All 21 outs. And that's what our kids did. We chipped away. The guys battled and we got some timely hits."

It was also the last game for Dundee-Crown assistant coach and pitching guru Dave Engle. The former Barrington pitching and assistant coach with Kirby Smith, who'd come back a few years ago to help at Dundee-Crown, decided to exit after this season.

"It has been lots of fun," Engle said.