Baseball: Buffalo Grove's home runs do in Hersey

There's this tendency for Sean Jacobs to want to prove something.

He's the No. 9 hitter in Buffalo Grove's batting order after all, and some might assume that coaches hide their weaker hitters in that spot.

"I love being in the nine-spot," Jacobs said. "People doubt you and you just prove them wrong."

Jacobs proved all kinds of things on Wednesday when Buffalo Grove hosted Hersey in a Mid-Suburban East baseball game.

For starters, he proved that he fit right in with Buffalo Grove's theme of the day of "hot bats and home runs."

Jacobs was one of three Buffalo Grove players to blast home runs in a dominating 10-0 MSL East win over the Huskies in five innings.

Jacobs went 2-for-2 on the day and drove in 3 runs.

Overall, Buffalo Grove, which improved to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the MSL East, rolled up 9 hits and finished strong, scoring 8 of its 10 runs over the final two innings.

"We were seeing the ball really well today," Jacobs said. "We had a really good hitting practice right before the game so we were all locked in and ready to go."

Buffalo Grove pitcher Connor Adams was certainly locked in. He went the distance and gave up only 1 extra base hit, a double to Hersey starting pitcher Hunter Luke. Adams allowed only 2 walks as well.

Meanwhile, Adams helped his own cause at the plate by also hitting a home run. His solo shot to left field in the fourth inning gave Buffalo Grove a 3-0 lead.

"It was really reassuring (to pitch with plenty of offense as a cushion)," Adams said. "It allows me to go out there and be loose and not stressed at all.

"And my guys behind me made plays for me. It was just an exciting game for us. I think all those home runs gave us some confidence. It got all the guys riled up."

Carter Gledhill got the home run parade started for Buffalo Grove in the second inning with a solo shot to left field. It was the first score of the game, and Gledhill's third home run of the season.

"It was fun to watch the home runs, fun to see the guys turn it loose," Buffalo Grove assistant coach Bill Montemayor said. "They had a lot of fun today, a lot of confidence and it showed in their play.

"And the last two or three weeks, Sean (Jacobs) has been on fire for us. He's swinging a hot bat and hopefully he keeps that going. It turns over the lineup and it's fun to watch the guys at the bottom of the order do some damage."

Hersey, which drops to 10-10 overall and 3-5 in the MSL East, got 6 hits off Adams but could never turn that into any scores.

"It was a game for awhile and then they kind of went off," Hersey coach Wally Brownley said. "We were getting hits, but we couldn't come up with that big hit. At one point, we had like eight baserunners and they really didn't have any but they were winning 3-0 because of the home runs.

"But tip your hat to them, they've got some really good hitters on their team."