High school baseball notebook: Huntley off to terrific start while being shorthanded

Huntley baseball coach Andy Jakubowski marveled at his team’s 8-0 record after Monday’s 8-2 victory over Prairie Ridge.

Jakubowski, along with most others around the Fox Valley Conference, expects the Red Raiders to be good every season. They have won or shared the past three FVC championships.

But Huntley is missing four players from the football team, which was quaratined last week because of COVID-19. Jakubowski expects Alex Janke and Nick Martino to be his corner outfielders, while CJ Filipek and Chase Jetel also will play important roles and add to pitching depth.

“I look out against Brother Rice and we have five sophomores starting and we closed with a freshman,” Jakubowski said. “We’re doing it with smoke and mirrors right now. We’re just figuring it out as we go.”

Sophomore catcher-outfielder Ryan Bakes says it speaks to the Raiders’ mentality.

“We’re always going to come here and play hard, no matter what happens,” Bakes said. “We just come to work every day.”

The good thing is the Raiders should be back close to full strength soon.

Aching Wolves: Full strength is not a status Prairie Ridge may see this season. Wolves coach Glen Pecoraro lamented some of his team’s injury woes after Monday’s loss at Huntley.

Pitcher Noah Schlup underwent Tommy John surgery in the fall to fix his throwing elbow. Braden Thelander, who Pecoraro had figured into his top three, has a labrum injury that may require surgery.

Ryan Gregorio was diagnosed with a ulnar collateral nerve strain when he threw a pitch and dropped to the ground in pain against Libertyville. And speedy Tyler Vasey, who likely will see time in the outfield, is recovering from a broken collarbone suffered in the Wolves’ second football game.

Red-hot R-B: Richmond-Burton (7-0) is another team off to a blazing start. The Rockets have a team ERA less than two runs a game and have committed only five errors.

Junior catcher Hayden Christiansen, who is committed to NCAA Division I Xavier, is hitting .550 with 10 RBIs, two doubles, two triples and three home runs.

Outfielder Griffin Taylor is batting .500 with five RBIs, three triples and a homer.

Pitcher Joseph Mrowiec is 3-9 with 27 strikeouts and three earned runs 14 innings.

Nice start: Cary-Grove senior infielder Steve Churak had a varsity debut he may never forget. Churak went 3 for 3 with two homers and six RBIs in Monday’s 12-1 victory over Hampshire.

Churak, hitting in the No. 8 spot, singled in his first at-bat in the third inning. He came up again that inning and ripped a grand slam.

Churak’s second homer, a two-run shot in the fifth, ended the game on a 10-run rule.

Mr. Reliable: McHenry third baseman-pitcher Gavin Micklinghoff has been his team’s most consistent hitter early in the season.

Micklinghoff is hitting .357 with 10 RBIs for the 5-5 Warriors.

“He just finds a way,” Warriors coach Brian Rockweiler said. “Every game he comes up with guys on base and knocks somebody in or gets on base. He’s been that guy all year for us.”

Whip it: Hampshire finished the 2019 season taking fourth in the Class 4A State Tournament after finishing sixth in the FVC. The two returning players from that team, Dylan Petrie and Ben Benoit, have made their marks early for the 6-2 Whip-Purs.

Petrie is 2-0 with an ERA less the 2.00, 21 strikeouts in 14 innings and a WHIP of 0.857. He also catches and has knocked in five runs.

Benoit is 1-0 with a 2.80 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 10 innings.

Sophomore catcher Austin Leonard is making some noise at the plate with a .308 average, two homers and 12 RBIs. Leonard homered off C-G starter Ryan Weaver, who will pitch at Illinois State University. It was the Whips’ only hit off Weaver in the four innings he worked.

Ripping it: Marian Central first baseman Mason Schwalbach, a Northwest Herald All-Area honorable-mention pick as a sophomore, is off to a hot start.

Schwalbach was 5 for 9 in the Hurricanes’ three games last week with a homer, two doubles and four RBIs.