Baseball: Jacobs acts quickly vs. Dundee-Crown
Scoring early and often.
With three runs in the first inning, Jacobs seized control of Monday's baseball game against Dundee-Crown and posted an 8-4 victory in a Fox Valley Conference battle of District 300 teams Monday afternoon in Algonquin.
"We swung the bats one through nine today," said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray. "Our kids are learning how to hit. We are getting a lot of experience for our young guys."
Collecting 11 hits, the Golden Eagles (10-16, 5-10) scored in the first on run-scoring singles by Bryan Belo and Max Bielawski along with an infield grounder for an RBI by Mauricio Grosso.
The Golden Eagles put three more on the scoreboard in the fourth on a 2-run double by Kyle Washington and a run-scoring single by Christian Scianna.
Belo spearheaded the Eagles' offensive attack with 2 hits, an RBI, 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases.
"Coach Murray is always talking about an aggressive mentality at the plate," Belo said. "Everybody swung the bats well today and we ran the bases well. I am really seeing the ball well and I like hitting in the two hole. It is a position in the lineup I can utilize the bunt game. We always want to beat our rivals. D-C is struggling but they really compete."
The Eagles ran rampant on the base paths, stealing 7 bases in 8 attempts. Belo, Scianna and Tim Slavich swiped two bags each.
"We try to create situations where we can run," Murray said. "Our batters were working counts and we are able to utilize our team speed. It was a good day to run."
Shayne McCullough pitched 5⅔ innings to earn the victory. The crafty left-hander struck out four without allowing a walk.
"Shayne was outstanding today," Murray said. "He mixed his pitches well and pitched to contact. He used all three of his pitches and really battled."
The Chargers (4-20, 0-15) produced two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Aaron Ecklin and a sacrifice fly by Justin Colon. Ray Gestritch hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth and losing pitcher Nick Gregory accounted for the final run with a home run in the seventh.
Dundee-Crown got 2 hits each by Gregory and Colon.
"The kids are really battling and not quitting despite our record," said Dundee-Crown assistant coach Pat Conlin. "The kids are staying positive and we see improvement every game. We are trending upwards. I thought we swung the bats really well. The errors hurt us. This conference is brutally tough. Everybody is good."