Baseball: Prospect's confidence builds with convincing win over Barrington
The calendar says that it should be close to the time of the Mid-Suburban League championship baseball game.
With Barrington from the West and Prospect from the East, and both teams unbeaten in conference play, it very well could have been.
But the calendar is still a bit off thanks to the delay in the season because of COVID. So the championship game will have to wait until the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Prospect got the leg up on the Broncos with a convincing 10-3 win Friday in Mount Prospect. The Knights (11-2-1, 6-0) had 10 hits and took advantage of 6 walks, 2 hit batters and 2 errors by Barrington to remain unbeaten in conference play.
"For our kids this is a confidence builder," Prospect coach Russ Giusti said. "We said today would be like a regional final. If you are going to advance in the state playoffs, you have to come out and perform."
Prospect starting pitcher Cole Connor said he waited all week for this game. Connor then delivered for the Knights, allowing 3 runs and striking out 7 in 6⅔ innings.
"I knew this was going to be a big game," said Connor, a senior who improved to 3-1 on the season.
"I was pretty stoked to pitch in this game. I just came out and pitched my best. I got some help from defense."
The Knights' offense didn't hurt him either.
Led by Ethan Rossi, who had 3 hits, including a first inning home run and an RBI double, Prospect was able to jump out to a 7-0 lead after four innings.
"It was good being out here and I felt ready today," Rossi said. "I had a good BP round. I have had some bad patches with my hitting but I am catching up with it now and feeling good."
The Knights tallied four times in the second.
Cole Lannert had the first of his 2 hits and Conner followed with a single. Zach Moreth had an RBI single, Peyton Burgh a 2-run single and Rossi an RBI double.
The Knights add 2 runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Tyler Ciulla.
"This team really loves baseball," Giusti said. "It is just a real fun group to be around. They are zoned in. They really pay attention to what is going on around them. They have been learning and getting better."
Barrington (8-2, 5-1) closed the gap to 7-3 in the fifth. The Broncos got consecutive singles from Ben Yaney, Nick Lacson and Danny Hoffman. Evan Jon-Baptiste followed with a 2-run single and Ryan Jenkins had a fielders choice RBI.
Prospect pulled away in the sixth when it scored 3 runs without a hit as Barrington, which used six pitchers, walked 4 and hit a batter in the inning.
"We didn't hit very well in the first four innings," Barrington coach Pat Wire said. "We made up for it not fielding or throwing well either. We were bad in all phases. It is a wake-up call for our guys and shows that we have work to do."