Baseball: Spot-starter Brady Gilroy, Burlington Central end FVC season on high note with win over Huntley

HUNTLEY – Burlington Central senior right-hander Brady Gilroy is used to coming out of the bullpen to shut opponents down as his team’s closer.

But during the Rockets’ final Fox Valley Conference game against Huntley on Friday, he was asked to make a spot start.

The result couldn’t have gone much better.

Gilroy tossed a 97-pitch, two-hit complete game, propelling the Rockets (19-8, 13-5 FVC) past the Red Raiders 4-1.

It allowed Central – which finished second in the conference, a game behind Huntley – a two-game season sweep against the first-place Raiders (23-5, 14-4).

“I was mostly working fastball, breaking ball and changing speeds and locations to keep them off balance,” Gilroy said.

He also only allowed one Huntley base runner beyond second base.

Ryan Dabe’s first-inning single, along with a seventh-inning RBI single to right field by Dylan Visvadra, accounted for all of Huntley’s hits.

Gilroy did allow four walks but also struck out six while inducing eight ground ball outs.

“He also threw eight or nine knuckleballs,” Rockets coach Kyle Nelson said. “It’s not a pitch you see very often at any level, but he’s confident in it, and we’re confident in his ability to step up in whatever pitching role we need.

“We used a lot of arms the past week, so I decided we would give him a shot today as a starter to give some other guys some rest.”

Needless to say, the Rockets and Gilroy are suddenly brimming with confidence as the postseason nears after downing the Raiders twice this week.

Who could blame them? Especially since Huntley has won seven consecutive FVC titles dating back to 2017 (not including the 2020 season canceled because of the pandemic).

“This definitely gives us a big lift,” Gilroy said. “I got some great defense behind me today, too, and wins like this and the one two days ago against Huntley allow us to feel like were playing at a real high level at just the right time.”

No defensive play was greater than the game’s final out.

With a runner on first and two outs in the Bottom of the seventh, Huntley shortstop Griffin Goldstein ripped a sinking liner into the gap in right-center field.

Central center fielder Elliot Alicea made a spectacular, face-first diving catch to end the game, preventing the potential tying run from coming to the plate.

Rockets shortstop Michal Person also had a must-see, over-the-shoulder Willie Mays-style basket catch in shallow left in the fourth inning, robbing Quinn Drews of what seemed to be a sure hit.

“We got outplayed, outpitched and outworked by the better team today,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “Their three-run third inning kind of put us in a bad spot we couldn’t pull ourselves out of. Their pitcher (Gilroy) kind of pitched backward against us, using off-speed to set up his fastball, and we simply couldn’t adjust. Hats off to him.”

That third inning included a bases-loaded, RBI infield single from Rockets cleanup hitter Jake Johnson, followed by a two-RBI single courtesy of Chase Powrozek one batter later.

Alicea tallied Central’s only other run in the 5th with an RBI single.

To his credit, Huntley starting pitcher Mason Leske was solid in his 4 1/3 innings, walking only one while striking out five.

Two of the three runs he yielded came on a fluke hop off the lip of the infield grass near third base during Powrozek’s base hit.

“That’s just how things go sometimes,” Jakubowski said. “As well as we’ve played this spring, our strength all year has been pitching and defense. We aren’t going to score a ton of runs. So we don’t have a lot of margin for error.”

Both teams appear to have strong potential to make postseason runs.

Huntley is a No. 1 seed at the Class 4A DeKalb Regional, and will face Rockford Jefferson on May 22.

“We just have to put these two losses to Burlington behind us, and stay focused on our handful of remaining regular season games to be as sharp as possible come playoff time,” Jakubowski said.

Central is a No. 2 seed, meanwhile, at the 3A Belvidere North Regional, and will open the postseason against Belvidere. That game also is May 22. Both games start at 4:30 p.m.

“We’re playing with a lot of energy,” Nelson said. “It’s fun to watch guys step up in big games late in the season, so hopefully we can carry this momentum as far as possible. Everyone is finding a way to contribute right now.”