Baseball: Soske, Barrington handle weather, Fremd

Peyton Soske had some Radar Love Wednesday in Barrington.

Soske overcame two radar detector warnings for lightning and helped pitch and hit Barrington to a 2-1 win over Fremd.

It was the second win over Fremd in as many days for Barrington (11-5-1, 5-0). They beat the Vikings 5-2 on Tuesday.

"We came out of those days with our guys just showing true grit," Barrington coach Pat Wire said. "Our guys just wanted to compete here today. The way Peyton was throwing, I was feeling pretty confident."

The game was delayed twice as the lightning detector went off. That sent the players, coaches and umpires inside the building for 19 minutes each time.

When played resumed each time, Soske was in a pivotal position.

The first time, Soske was at the plate in the bottom of the second. The detector sounded with Soske facing an 0-2 count.

When played resumed, Soske battled the count full, before lifting a windblown double to right. That would ignite Barrington's only successful offensive inning of the day as the Broncos would plate both of their runs that inning.

"We prepare for this stuff in football," said Soske, who played quarterback last season.

"We had to have the momentum out of the break. We did and put up two runs which was nice."

After Soske advanced to third on a fielder's choice, Bryce Koch would drive him in on a sharp single to right. Koch would later score on a bases loaded fielder's choice as Brendan Beals' hustle down the line avoided an inning-ending double play.

"It wasn't difficult for me to come back out," Koch said. "I was ready to hit. The coaches have been preaching to take the ball to the right side and I did."

The next occurrence of the detector came in the top of the sixth with the Broncos clinging to a 2-1 lead.

Soske again came out after the delay and made a huge statement. He struck out the first batter he faced and would then go on to retire the final five batters after that to notch the victory.

"That break really gave me a second wind," Soske said. "I came back out and I was pumped and ready to finish the job."

Wire said he was ready to take Soske off the mound after the second delay. But Soske, who had only thrown 61 pitches to that point, convinced Wire to allow him to continue.

"We typically would pull a guy," Wire said. "We kept on asking him and he kept saying no. We had a guy up in the bullpen ready to go. But he (Soske) just put us on his back."

Fremd (6-8-1, 2-3) scratched out its only run in the second inning thanks to some heads-up baserunning by Brayden Mobley.

The senior drilled a single up the middle. He then took second on a passed ball and went to third in a ground ball, waiting patiently to move up on the throw to first. He then scored on Jake Schneider's grounder to short.

But the Vikings could only manage to get one baserunner as far as second base from there. That lack of offense hurt a strong performance by Fremd starter Quinn Nelson and a solid inning of relief by Ryan Gleeson.

"We threw well today," Fremd coach Chris Piggott said. "We had a couple mistakes that cost a couple of runs. Our problem has been the lack of execution. Just trying to put everything together all at once."