Baseball: Postseason pattern continues for Huntley at Boomers Stadium
Twice in two months the Huntley baseball program has charged deep enough into a state baseball tournament to qualify for a game at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg.
However, the journey has proved to be more fun than the destination for the Red Raiders, who on Wednesday were shut out on the minor league field by Brother Rice, 3-0, in a semifinal of the Phil Lawler Summer Classic, presented by the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association.
On the same field on June 6, Huntley lost 8-0 to Mundelein in a Class 4A supersectional.
"I think if we make it here next year, we'll be a lot more prepared than we were, obviously, being here twice," said Huntley left fielder Alec Coss, who accounted for 2 of his team's 4 hits. "We just have to figure out how to score here."
Brother Rice (15-6-2) advances to the state title game on Thursday at Boomers Stadium at 7 p.m. The Crusaders will play Plainfield South (16-3), which defeated Naperville Central in the first semifinal 6-3.
Brother Rice left-hander Ryan Palmblad made scoring difficult on the right-handed lineup from Huntley (17-7-3) via a two-seam fastball that got better as the game progressed. Though he struck out only 2 hitters in a 92-pitch performance, Palmblad issued a lone walk and allowed his defense to corral 11 outs via flyballs and 8 outs via groundballs.
"My defense carried me," he said. "They made plays."
Huntley had runners at first and third in the first inning, but Palmblad drew an inning-ending flyball off the bat of his pitching counterpart, Adam Smylie. The Red Raiders left runners in scoring position in the third and sixth innings.
"We had a hard time squaring him all day and if we did it was right at somebody," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. "He did a real nice job of changing speeds and moving the ball in and out.
"I thought it was two carbon-copy teams - they put a lot of pressure on. They try to bunt and they try to run and they took advantage of two mistakes."
Brother Rice managed 2 runs (1 earned) in 4 innings against Smylie, who allowed 5 hits and a walk and struck out a pair.
The Crusaders scored an unearned run in the third inning when Huntley's first baseman dropped a two-out foul pop off the bat of No. 9 hitter Kendall Pettis only to see him walk and later score on a double by Ryan King.
The first four Brother Rice hitters in the fourth inning singled, but Smylie limited the damage with a pickoff at first base. He was also helped by third baseman Nick Laxner, who charged a squeeze bunt and nailed a runner at the plate.
The Crusaders added an unearned run in the seventh against reliever Logan DeWulf, who held them to 1 hit in 3 innings.
Despite being shutout again at the same venue, Huntley's coach was pleased with what his team achieved this summer.
"We learned how to work together," Jakubowski said. "The younger guys learned how to play the game at the varsity level and the way we play. I think it's just a positive for everyone and we'll do what we can do get back here next year. I like the makeup of our team. Defensively, we're very good and on the mound I think we're very good. If we continue to work on our offensive approach, I think we'll be a pretty good team going into next year."