High school baseball: Cary-Grove manages only 2 hits in loss to Barrington

CARY – Cary-Grove leadoff man Dymitri Kanellakis provided an encouraging start when he ripped a 1-1 pitch to the left-center field fence for a triple.

Things went downhill from there for the Trojans offensively.

They failed to get Kanellakis across home. Then, C-G managed only one base runner in the next five innings against Barrington left-hander R.J. Nowicki, a Northern Illinois commit.

“You start off the game with a triple and you think, ‘This is going to be a great day,’ ” Trojans coach Ryan Passaglia said. “But sometimes that’s not the way it goes. (Nowicki) did a nice job settling in. He did a really nice job working in off-speed stuff in hitters’ counts.”

Nowicki and reliever Rayth Petersen held C-G to two hits in a 4-0 victory Wednesday in their nonconference game. Nowicki fanned seven, walked two and threw 81pitches in six innings.

“He just settled down (after the triple),” Broncos coach Pat Wire said. “The beauty is, even though he’s a junior, he has been in that spot before. Last year he was used predominantly as a reliever. The pressure situations, he’s used to that. He’s worked hard to put himself in a position to be successful.”

C-G (1-1) beat Palatine, 7-0, on Tuesday and appeared to have another good start.

“I was hunting fastball and (Nowicki) gave me a pitch low and inside, and I just turned on it,” Kanellakis said. “It was a good way to start the game. (Nowicki) was changing location and his pitch speed threw us off the whole game.”

C-G’s Jack Thompson flied out to right field, not deep enough to score Kanellakis. Nowicki then struck out Quinn Priester, walked Drew Stengren, who stole second, then ended the inning with a strikeout of L.J. Waco.

The Trojans put only three more runners on base.

“(Nowicki) really located his changeup well and was able to use it all the time,” Trojans first baseman Ben Taczy said. “It really kind of messed with our timing and messed with us as a team. We have good pitching and really good defense, we just need to get the bats going and we’ll be good.”

Passaglia glanced at his scorecard in the middle innings.

“It was, ‘Gee, we only got one hit,’ ” Passaglia said. “As well as we played yesterday, they outplayed us today. We didn’t play poorly.”

Barrington center fielder Clark Elliott, who will play at Michigan, homered in the first off C-G starter Ryan Weaver, who then worked two scoreless innings. Elliott started a big fourth inning for the Broncos (1-1) with a single, then scored on John Seagrist’s double. Barrington tacked on two more in that inning.

Jacob Duncan worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings after relieving Weaver.

“It was a big lift when Clark hit that (home run),” Wire said. “We probably stretched (Nowicki) a little bit, but I know what they’re capable of. They’re a great program and the reality is I was never in a spot where I felt great. He’s a guy that usually gets stronger as the game goes on.”

STAR OF THE GAME

Dymitri Kanellakis, Cary-Grove, jr., CF

Kanellakis led off the game with a triple to left-center field, but was left at third base. He also had three putouts in center field for the Trojans.

THE NUMBER

2: Hits for C-G off of Barrington starter R.J. Nowicki and closer Rayth Petersen.

AND ANOTHER THING...

C-G athletic director Jim Altendorf had a the letters “SUDS” put on the right-field fence this season as a tribute to former coach Don Sutherland, who stepped down last season after 31 years as the Trojans head coach.

Barrington 4, Cary-Grove 0

Cary-Grove 000 000 0 – 0 2 0

Barrington 100 300 x – 4 7 0

WP: R.J. Nowicki, 1-0 (6IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 7K). LP: Ryan Weaver, 0-1 (3.1IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 3K).

Top hitters–Barrington: Clark Elliott 3-3 (HR, RBI, 2R), John Seagrist 1-3 (2B, RBI), Max Raymar 1-3 (R), Nolan Smith 1-3 (RBI), Johnny Pecora 1-1 (RBI). Cary-Grove: Dymitri Kanellakis 1-3 (3B), Harry Heinisch 1-1.