Baseball: Skwarek, Crystal Lake South snap Cary-Grove's 9-game streak
When the game against Cary-Grove got a little tight for Crystal Lake South, senior pitcher Ryan Skwarek found ways to loosen it up.
First, Skwarek squelched any further trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning, striking out two Trojans to leave the bases loaded and preserve the Gators' two-run lead.
A few minutes later, Skwarek ripped a bases-loaded double to the center-field fence to chase home two runs as South tacked on five more runs.
The Gators, who had not played since returning from their spring break trip to South Carolina, defeated C-G, 9-2, Saturday in their Fox Valley Conference baseball game, ending the Trojans' winning streak at nine games.
The decision gave South coach Brian Bogda his 300th career victory in his 16th season.
C-G (9-2, 2-1 FVC) scored a run in the fifth on Peyton Seaburg's infield hit, PJ Weaver's single and Vinnie Lutz's RBI single. Nate Crick's walk loaded the bases, but Skwarek struck out the next two batters on seven pitches.
"I just had to dig deep, trust my stuff, trust all the work I put in in the offseason," Skwarek said. "I give a lot of credit to Luke Dunham, our freshman coach, I worked a lot on my pitching with him."
Skwarek had 60 pitches to start the inning and 86 after it was over, but said he felt good.
"Ryan pitched a terrific game," Bogda said. "He just attacked the zone. I really liked his tempo and the way he makes his pitches. He just did a really nice job of that. He was hitting his spots and giving us a chance to make plays for him."
South (7-0, 1-0) led 4-2 after the fifth, but virtually sealed the win in the top of the sixth. With one out, Joey Weldon walked, Dayton Murphy and Edgar Camacho singled and Skwarek hit the first pitch from reliever Charlie Taczy to the warning track for two RBIs.
"It was a slider that he started right at me and went right over the plate," Skwarek said. "I knew it was going to be a good pitch, he wasn't going to walk me in that situation. I had to put the bat on the ball."
South got two runs off C-G starter Sam Cohen in the first, but Cohen battled through the next three innings and the Trojans scored an unearned run to make it 2-1.
With runners on second and third and two outs in the fifth, Gators catcher Kyle Kuffel doubled down the left-field line to score two.
"The at-bat before, the same pitcher was throwing and he threw me two changeups inside," Kuffel said. "I was waiting for it and he threw one inside and took it to left. I was sitting changeup the whole time. It sparked us a little bit."
South fans honored Bogda with a wooden "300" after the game. He was thrilled for the moment and his team's performance.
"I'm super proud of the way we competed today against a very good ballclub over there," Bogda said. "We did a nice job sticking with our approach at the plate."
C-G's winning streak is the longest of any area team so far this season.
"We've been playing good baseball," Trojans coach Ryan Passaglia said. "We didn't do anything well today in the three phases at all. Sam was a little off, he'd be the first to admit it. Both teams had opportunities. They took advantage of theirs, we didn't.
"The fifth inning was pivotal. You get the bases loaded and strikeout, strikeout. You just can't do that."