Baseball: Taczy, Cary-Grove top Huntley in battle of FVC leaders

Cary-Grove sophomore Charlie Taczy had every reason in the world to feel good when he stepped into the batter's box in the bottom of the seventh inning, even though the Trojans trailed Huntley by one run.

It was Taczy's first at-bat of the game after he pitched 4 1/3 sparkling innings of relief to keep C-G in the game.

"In the box I was feeling it," Taczy said. "I had pitched amazing and I was as confident as I could ever be. The pitch I hit was a fastball, middle half, it was middle in, my favorite spot. I jumped a little early on it and I put a barrel on it and it landed."

Taczy's single chased in Brendan Carter with the tying run, and when left fielder Ryan Dabe had trouble grabbing the ball, Daniel Stauder advanced to third and Taczy cruised into second.

Two pitches later, Stauder raced home on a wild pitch as the Trojans grabbed a 7-6 walk-off Fox Valley Conference victory over the Red Raiders in a battle of the league's top two teams.

"We felt like in that moment at that spot we needed a little change," Trojans coach Ryan Passaglia said of letting Taczy hit instead of designated hitter Alex Kashmier. "Right guy, right spot. I look like the hero today, but I'll look like the goat tomorrow the way it is in baseball."

What Taczy did on the mound was more than impressive. C-G (17-3, 10-2 FVC) trailed 6-2 when he entered the game with two outs in the third. Huntley (15-4, 8-3) had runners on first and third and Ryan and Brayden Bakes coming up. He hit Ryan Bakes to load the bases, but retired Brayden Bakes on a deep fly to center field.

"I was just trying to see what I can do, give them pitches to hit and see what they can do with it. I'm lucky that I executed my pitches well and got them out," Taczy said. "Probably after the second inning I was feeling it. It was moving well, the velo felt good. Everything was just in sync. It felt good."

Taczy tried a new grip on his changeup and it was highly effective.

"Charlie's been great for us all year. His pitches move a lot," C-G catcher Nate Crick said. "He has very good control over his pitches. We trust him in a lot of situations. He threw his changeup very well today. It was moving all over the place."

C-G scraped up three runs on one hit, two walks and two hit batsmen in the fifth to make it 6-5.

" (Taczy) has been in some big moments this year," Passaglia said. "He's had his moments of youth, but he came out and bulldogged up in a big moment for us. He really held a good lineup down and gave us a chance to chip back into the game. Kudos to him."

The Raiders' potent offense had nine hits in the first three innings, but managed only one runner - No. 9 man Griffin Goldstein reached on a hit by pitch - after the third inning.

" (Taczy) is the story of the game," Raiders coach Andy Jakubowski said. "He pounded the inner half of the zone. We really struggled to try to barrel him up and have an approach against him. He pitched inside well and we swung over the top of his changeup. He gave them an opportunity to win today."

Carter singled on the first pitch with one out in the bottom of the seventh to start the winning rally.

"I knew my job was to get on base. I was looking for fastball first pitch and I got it inside and was able to get it through," Carter said. "Charlie was fantastic today. Coming in and shutting them down. Striking out the Bakeses, back to back (in the sixth), that was huge. Four scoreless innings and to top it all off with a game-winning hit."

Stauder reached on a hit by pitch after Carter's hit, then Taczy dropped his hit into left field. Passaglia alerted Stauder what to do next.

"I said, 'Dirtball read, you have to run like your life depends on it,' " Passaglia said. "We got one and he took off and it worked out. It was one of those days where we got a couple of breaks, but we also made a couple of breaks for ourselves. We'll take it."