Baseball: Palatine's Hopper earns bragging rights vs. Barrington

College roommates usually like to do things together.

Palatine's Danny Hopper and Barrington's Logan Eisenbarth got a bit of a head start.

The duo, who will be roommates next year at Wisconsin-Whitewater, faced off against each other on the mound Monday in Barrington. Hopper got bragging rights as he pitched and hit the Pirates to a 6-3 win over the Broncos.

"I guess there will be a little bragging, but we are friends, so not so much," said Hopper, who threw 6-plus innings and had three hits including a three-run homer.

"I was just fighting pitches. They were hitting my fastball, so I had to stick off-speed. I just knew that being a senior I have to keep my composure and just overcome that adversity."

Both teams used four consecutive hits to score their first three runs.

Barrington (15-3-2, 8-2) scored its trio of runs in the bottom of the first.

Evan Jon-Baptiste, J.D. Swarbrick, Jake Kohanzo, and Eisenbarth had consecutive singles with Kohanzo driving in a run. Danny Hoffman had a key two-out single as the Broncos led 3-0.

But the Broncos had a running error to end the inning. They would add four more hits off Hopper, but would end up stranding 7 runners in the game.

"We hit them in the mouth and they responded," Barrington coach Pat Wire said. "At the end of the day, we have to produce a little more with runners in scoring position. We just didn't do that. Those three errors we had were vital as well."

Hopper and Palatine took that first punch and were then able to battle back.

"A year ago that's not him," Palatine coach Paul Belo said. "He is a different kid. It is a credit to his maturity and his willingness to stay in there and trust himself."

Palatine (12-6-1, 6-4) put together its four consecutive hits in the top of the fourth.

Hopper, Nate Branch, Aiden Wimer and Paul Bloomquist each singled. The Pirates were able to score thee runs thanks to an RBI single by Bloomquist and a pair of Barrington errors to tie the game at 3-3.

"We knew this was going to be a tough game," said Wimer, who had a pair of hits.

"After we went down early, the energy picked up. We started getting hits and momentum just took us all the way."

Hopper and Palatine came all the way back in its next at-bat. After Thomas Coroneos singled and D.J. Dick reached on an error, Hopper belted a three-run homer to left center to make it 6-3.

"It just kept carrying," Hopper said. "I knew it was gone when I hit it. It came at a big spot in the game."

With a lead, Hopper kept Barrington off the board from there. He reached a pinch count maximum in the seventh, giving way to Joe Wagner, who got the final two outs.

With the win, Palatine broke a 24-game MSL West winning streak by Barrington. Palatine was the last MSL West team to beat the Broncos.

But it took finding a way to fight back and not panic after the first inning according to Belo.

"We went out and played with a tight focus and a loose body," Belo said. "That first inning was not what we planned to come here with. There wasn't much panic on the bench."