Baseball: Huntley wins battle of 2019 FVC co-champs

Huntley was one pitch from having to settle for nothing in its third inning.

Prairie Ridge starter Matt Porter had two outs and a full count on No. 2 hitter Tyler Castro, who drew a walk.

Things took a quick downturn for the Wolves.

Ryan Bakes and Brandon Hanley both ripped RBI singles, Porter struggled with his control and the Red Raiders wound up with a four-run inning.

It was just the lift they needed as the unbeaten Raiders went on to defeat the Wolves, 8-2, in their Fox Valley Conference baseball opener Monday, a battle of the league co-champions from 2019.

"Porter did a great job the first two innings. We did a really good job of extending the inning (in the third)," Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. "Tyler (Castro) walked and Ryan came up with a big 0-2 hit. Right-center gap, that's where we were trying to pepper all during batting practice today because that's where the ball was traveling. It was a tough day to hit."

Both teams seemed to prefer going to right field because of the stiff winds blowing directly in from left field.

Raiders' No. 9 hitter Lucas Goldstein drew a one-out walk in the third, then Porter struck out Joe Garlin before Castro walked.

"The 0-2 count, I was just looking to score a run, move a guy over," Bakes said. "I sat on it and went the other way. I felt that (inning broke it open. We got a lot more energy going, we had a lot of energy after that."

Hanley was more than happy to go to right field as well.

"Our team, as a whole, is great at hitting and everyone doing their jobs," Hanley said. "When I came up, I was just thinking middle/away, with the wind blowing."

Porter struck out four in the first two innings, but needed 43 pitches to get out of the third.

Huntley (8-0) got a solid pitching outing from Michael Moise, who threw four innings, and Jake Jakubowski, who pitched the last three. Each allowed one earned run.

"Michael's a great pitcher. I love catching him," Hanley said. "When you hit your spots and you have command, it's going to be really tough to hit off you."

Moise allowed three hits and an earned run in the first, then held the Wolves (2-4) scoreless.

"It was a gutty performance," Andy Jakubowski said. "Of his three outings, it's the lesser of the three, but he gutted it out. He didn't have his A-plus stuff, but he pitched to contact. He gave us an opportunity. Jake came in and kept them off-balance."

Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro said his team made too many mistakes.

"Both innings they scored, there were balls in the air that have to be caught," Pecoraro said. "It's a tough day. The wind's blowing (hard), but it's tough for everybody. In infield (practice) we talked about it, 'Don't give up on any ball.'

"We don't compete in two innings and we give up seven runs. There's the game. You can't do that against a team like Huntley."

The Wolves' Alex Milone led off the game with a single and scored on Jack Tobin's single. Milone singled to drive in Will Komar in the sixth for the Wolves' other run.

Hanley was 2-for-4 with 4 RBI to lead the Raiders.