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Prep baseball: Conner Williar's big hits, pitching lead Sycamore past Kaneland

If there were two outs for Sycamore on Thursday against Kaneland, chances are the back of the order was driving in a run.

The last four hitters in the Sycamore order drove in seven runs with two outs in a 10-4 Interstate 8 Conference win over Kaneland.

Conner Williar had three of those RBI, driving in a pair of runs in a four-run first for the Spartans in which all the runs crossed with two outs. He also had an RBI single with two outs in the seventh.

"You have to look for anything there," Williar said. "Two outs, you have to do a job there. That's the whole point of hitting: Try to do a job for your team. Anything you can do with two outs - move runners over, score them - anything you can do. That's what I was trying to do today."

The win kept the Spartans (21-2, 11-0 I-8) undefeated in the conference. The teams played a second game Thursday night, with the first pitch at Sycamore happening at almost 8:30 p.m.

It was only the second time since April 15 the Spartans played a non-run-rule game against the rival Knights (12-11, 7-4).

"It's great to get that experience against playoff-like teams," said Williar, who added a two-out RBI single in the seventh. "These teams are going to pop up. I mean, we faced Kaneland in a sectional last year. So you're going to face these good teams, and it's always good preparation to face these good teams."

The Spartans took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth when the Knights finally broke through off Sycamore starter Jimmy Amptmann. After Zack Conrad and Anthony Campise reached on singles, Tom Thill doubled both home, then scored on a single by Matt Brunscheen.

Amptmann finished the inning but was lifted for Williar in the fifth. The starter allowed four runs and seven hits and struck out eight.

"Emotions were getting high; everybody was getting kind of crazy," Kaneland coach Brian Aversa said. "That's baseball. We put ourselves in the position to do some damage and did for the most part, just not enough to win."

Both teams ended up with stellar relief performances from Williar and Jackson Kottmeyer. Williar allowed only two runners to reach in his three innings of work to put an end to any Kaneland comeback hopes.

"It is good to get some innings back in, and it's always good to pitch against a good team," Williar said. "I had a blast. It's great pitching against a good team and doing well."

Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh said it was good to see Williar pitch well, considering he hasn't had a ton of time on the hill this year. He struck out three, walked one and allowed one hit.

"Conner hasn't pitched that much this year, but that doesn't change the fact he's a really good pitcher," Cavanaugh said. "He was throwing strikes. He was getting ahead in the count, and that makes a huge difference. You can get to the breaking ball if you can command the fastball, and I think he threw a ton of first-pitch strikes and forced contact."

For Kaneland, Kottmeyer came in with two runners on and no outs in the third but escaped the jam without allowing a run. He gave up an unearned run in the fourth.

But Sycamore got to him in the sixth. After he hit Matthew Rosado to load the bases with two outs, he plunked Owen Piazza to bring home Kyle Hartmann, who reached on a walk. Hunter Britz singled home two runs to break the game open.

"Jackson is working on some stuff, so I'm glad to see what he was doing," Aversa said. "He came in and gave us everything he had. We probably left him in a batter too long. But he showed us some stuff that's good to see heading toward the playoffs."

Kaneland had eight hits in the game, including two by Conrad and Campise.

Kierffer Tarnoki and Williar had two hits each for the Spartans, who had nine in the game. They also drew nine walks and were hit by pitches five times.

Cavanaugh said Britz's at-bat was a good example of two-out hitting for the Spartans.

"Hunter drove in two really big runs in that [sixth] mining," Cavanaugh said. "He got down 0-2 right away, he competed and got something on the ground. It got through the infield, drove in two runs and ends up making a huge difference in the game to give us a little breathing room."

Kaneland's Alex Schiefer delivers a pitch during their game against Sycamore Thursday, May 4, 2023, at Kaneland High School. Mark Busch/mbusch@shawmedia.com
Kaneland's Johnny Spallasso throws the ball across the field during their game against Sycamore Thursday, May 4, 2023, at Kaneland High School. Mark Busch/mbusch@shawmedia.com
Kaneland's Tom Thill tries to turn a double play as Sycamore's Kiefer Tarnoki slides in to break it up during their game Thursday, May 4, 2023, at Kaneland High School. Mark Busch/mbusch@shawmedia.com
Kaneland's Anthony Campise makes a play during their game against Sycamore Thursday, May 4, 2023, at Kaneland High School. Mark Busch/mbusch@shawmedia.com
Kaneland's Jackson Kottmeyer delivers a pitch during their game against Sycamore Thursday, May 4, 2023, at Kaneland High School. Mark Busch/mbusch@shawmedia.com
Kaneland's Matthew Brunscheen takes the throw as Sycamore's Conner Williar slides safely into third during their game Thursday, May 4, 2023, at Kaneland High School. Mark Busch/mbusch@shawmedia.com
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