Baseball: Big second inning propels McHenry to FVC win over Crystal Lake Central

McHENRY – McHenry’s 8-1 Fox Valley Conference win over Crystal Lake Central on Wednesday wasn’t big on style points.

But it got the job done.

The Warriors (17-4, 7-3 FVC) managed only four hits but sent 13 batters to the plate during an eight-run second inning, then never looked back.

During that inning, the Tigers (7-11, 4-7) committed a pair of costly errors, hit three McHenry batters and walked two others.

To their credit, the Warriors capitalized, starting with a walk by No. 7 hitter Kyle Maness, then a two-run double in the gap in right-center from No. 8 hitter and senior catcher Kamrin Borck.

“It wasn’t our best game offensively by any means,” Borck said. “But I felt like that sort of jump-started us and got us going on the right path.”

One batter later, No. 9 hitter Carson Weidner squeezed home a run with a flawless bunt up the first base line, then later in the inning, designated hitter Kaden Wasniewski belted an RBI double of his own, and the floodgates were wide open.

“That’s been the thing about our guys all season,” McHenry coach Brian Rockweiler said. “Even when one part of our game isn’t at its best, the rest of the team seems to step up and find other ways to help us win games.”

Case in point was McHenry starting pitcher Bryson Elbrecht, who overcame some early command issues.

Elbrecht, whose fastball was touching just over 85 mph on the radar gun, walked three of the first four Central batters he faced.

But he calmed down quickly, leaving the game having scattered only a pair of hits and no runs when he was replaced with two outs in the fourth inning. He also had three strikeouts while picking up the victory.

“We’ve tried to teach our pitchers that you don’t need to strike everyone out all the time,” McHenry pitching coach Zachary Badgley said. “Especially on our new turf infield. We like to work on location, pitch to contact, and hopefully get guys beating the ball into the ground while trusting our defense.”

It’s been a recipe for success at the Warriors’ new field, which has yet to be named. McHenry is 10-1 at home this year, with their only home loss coming at the hands of FVC-leading Huntley, which is two games ahead of the Warriors in the loss column in the conference race.

“We know Huntley and Burlington Central are ahead of us in the standings, but we’re not giving up,” Rockweiler said.

This is Rockeweiler’s 18th season coaching McHenry. He has never had a losing season, Warriors athletic director Chris Madson said. He has also won 20 or more games every year he’s been in charge.

The Warriors also have made speed on the bases a priority, stealing 70 bases in 76 attempts.

“Speed changes games,” Rockweiler said. “And not just on the bases, but defensively, too. Payton [Sensabaugh], Jack [Stecker] and Donovan [Christman] did a nice job tracking down some balls in the outfield today taking away a few hits. It’s the little things like that, the small details, that have put us in a position to win almost every game we’ve played.”

McHenry also got two scoreless, hitless innings of relief from senior righty Aiden Wasik in the sixth and seventh innings, as he retired the side in order both times.

“Just trying to keep my defense in a rhythm,” Wasik said. “The first five innings took a long time, so my goal was just to come in and throw strikes.”

Also throwing strikes was Tigers lefty reliever Drew Welder. Welder tossed 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball and struck out five in relief of starter Tommy Korn.

Central’s lone run came courtesy of a fifth-inning RBI single off the bat of cleanup hitter Rhett Ozment, which plated leadoff man Jaden Obaldo, who had doubled.

The Tigers were without head coach Caleb Aldridge on Wednesday. Interim head coach Austin Padjen said he was pleased with how his team pulled together after the rough start.

“These are still high school kids who are still learning and growing,” Padjen said. “And instead of letting early adversity snowball and get the best of them, they battled back. That’s a great sign.

“Especially against a good team like McHenry. But we want our players to make sure they understand, mistakes are going to happen. How you respond when they do is what matters most. Us coaches believe in these guys. We’re not going to give up.”