Baseball: Streamwood stuns South Elgin in 7th to tie for UEC lead
South Elgin coach Jim Kating described Streamwood as a scrappy team.
That was certainly an apt description after the Sabres rallied twice against the Storm for a hard-fought 6-5 win Tuesday in Streamwood.
Frank Sanchez's fielder's choice grounder scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the seventh as the Sabres tied the Storm atop the Upstate Eight Conference standings.
Both teams are 13-2 and play again Wednesday in South Elgin. The Storm then finishes conference play with two against Bartlett while the Sabres face Fenton.
South Elgin took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh as Jordan Green's drive to the right field corner plated Aedon Segovia, who reached when he was hit by a pitch for the second straight plate appearance.
The Sabres had one last chance against South Elgin ace Tyler Glowacki. They quickly took advantage, loading the bases on 2 hit batters sandwiched around Josh Wilder's bunt single.
Sanchez then hit a one-hopper to third base. Antonio Alanis, coming from third, appeared to beat the throw. When the ball sailed to the backstop, Wilder scored from second, setting off a wild celebration.
"We didn't hit the ball the way we wanted to, but the energy has never been at a higher level than it was today," said Sanchez through a translator. "I was just trying to get it over the infielders to tie the ballgame. Fortunately for us, the third baseman made an error."
South Elgin jumped ahead in a bizarre first inning.
Kyle Steinhofer led off with a double off the left fielder's glove. Segovia walked. After Green laid down a bunt, the throw pulled the second baseman across the bag, where he was leveled by Green and both runners scored. Jackson Lee and Quinn Bradford later singled in runs.
"We didn't make plays in the first inning," said Streamwood coach Dan Jennings. "So we knew we could slow them down a little bit, we just had to make a couple of plays, and Miguel really bore down. He did a great job."
After Bradford's hit, Streamwood starter Miguel Rodriguez restored order, retiring 10 in a row until Aiden Bernau singled to lead off the fifth.
Meanwhile, Glowacki held the Sabres hitless through the first 4 innings but ran into trouble in the fifth.
He walked Alanis with 1 out. Wilder bunted and reached first when the throw was wide. Any confusion about whether the no-hitter was intact was laid to rest when Nick Weaver, Sanchez and Chris Lara followed with clean singles. The last drove in 2 runs to tie the game.
"When you let a scrappy team hang around, this is something that can happen," Kating said. "When you have four or five errors and beat yourself in situations instead of taking care of your business, that's what will happen."
Carter Blanchard pitched the seventh inning to pick up the win.