Baseball: Deeply satisfying finish for Adams, Buffalo Grove

Connor Adams likes going deep.

The Buffalo Grove junior, who is also the starting quarterback on the football team, had his second strong effort in a row for the Bison baseball team.

Adams went all 7 innings for Buffalo Grove on Friday. He stymied Conant, holding the Cougars to 6 hits as the Bison rallied late for a 3-1 victory in a MSL crossover game in Buffalo Grove.

Adams was coming off a 6-plus inning performance a week ago when he beat Fremd. Adams topped that effort Friday, fanning five with 1 walk, which was intentional.

"I feel real good," Adams said. "I feel fresh. I feel like I got a lot more adrenaline as the game went on. It was intense the whole game."

Buffalo Grove (11-3, 5-0) won its second game in as many days with a late rally.

With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Buffalo Grove found itself with no runners on base with two outs, after Conant had turned a solid double play. But the Cougars' defense eluded them on the next play thanks to a throwing error allowing Mac Camardo to reach.

With pinch runner Tyler Reiger on first, Rio Komatani drilled a long drive down the right field line that just eluded the Conant outfielder. Reiger raced around to score and give the Bison a 2-1 lead.

"I was looking for a pitch on the inside corner that I could pull," Komatani said. "I got one and then hit it to the right field line. We were struggling at the plate and I was just trying to pick things up for us."

Komantani gave way to pinch runner Alex Paul, who scored on a single by Carter Gledhill that made it 3-1.

Conant (6-6-1, 3-1), which had its 5-game winning streak broken, got a one-out single by Jon Bustamante. But Adams got a flyout and strikeout to end the game.

"We have been on a little bit a roll here," Buffalo Grove coach Tim Miller said. "I think we had good pitching and defense, but I thought our approach at the plate wasn't as good. But we got the hits when we needed them."

Conant had taken the lead in the third when, after loading the bases with two outs, Keegan Brandt scored on a balk. Adams was then able to escape when he got a comebacker to end the threat.

Buffalo Grove tied it in the bottom of the frame. Sean Jacobs doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a sharp single to left by Riley Rundquist.

Conant coach Derek Fivelson was impressed with his starter Matt Majer, who allowed 5 hits and struck out five.

"Matt pitched real well," Fivelson said. "We didn't help him out. It is his first game that he has been able to pitch above 50 degrees and it was good to see him compete like he did."

With the weather backing up play, teams are finding out how deep their pitching staffs are.

"We have been very fortunate because our staff is real deep," Miller said. "We have been able to go seven deep, and that should help us."

The Bison, who have won 7 in a row, will need that depth. They will play 6 games over a seven-day period.

Buffalo Grove played Thursday and Friday without Zach Fricke, who is sidelined with a sprained right wrist. Fricke, who hurt the wrist a week ago in the Fremd game, is expected back sometime next week.