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CRYSTAL LAKE – The collective sigh of relief McHenry let loose around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday was like a breeze.
Warriors pitcher Kyle Kaempf grabbed a one-hopper and fed an underhanded toss to first baseman Connor Rodgers for the final out, preventing the unthinkable.
McHenry, which let a six-run lead slip away in the bottom of the seventh inning, came back with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth and held on for a 12-10 victory over Prairie Ridge in their Fox Valley Conference game.
“It means a lot,” said Warriors coach Brian Rockweiler, whose team led 9-1 heading into the sixth inning. “Some of these guys’ confidence was wavering a little bit. We lost seven in a row before we won Saturday. And we lost a tough one (2-1) to these guys Monday. Then we have the lead get away. It means a lot.”
[ Photos: McHenry vs. Prairie Ridge baseball ]
Logan Wirtz pitched a scoreless eighth and started the ninth. Kaempf came in to finish the ninth after a leadoff double by the Wolves’ Nathan Koteras, stranding runners at second and third.
“Badge (assistant coach Zach Badgley) talks about competing on the mound,” Kaempf said. “You get up there and think the people in front of you can’t beat you. I just stepped up there and tried to shut down the inning like I know I can.”
Equally important was how Wirtz handled adversity in the eighth inning. He entered in the seventh with the Warriors (11-12, 6-8) leading, 10-6. Koteras singled in one run and Jack Tobin ripped a three-run homer to left field to tie the score.
Wirtz went out in the eighth, and while the Wolves (9-11, 7-7) put runners on first and second, he struck out the side.
“At that point, it’s a tie game and you can’t let it affect you,” Wirtz said. “All you can do is battle. Sitting around and whining about it’s only going to make it worse. You just have to gut up and give your team another chance.”
Eddie Synek and Kaempf each had an RBI single in the top of the ninth as the Warriors took advantage of two Wolves’ errors to grab the lead.
After Koteras led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, Kaempf hit Tobin with a pitch, then struck out Jon Vasey and Will Komar. A wild pitch moved up both runners with Alex Milone at the plate. Kaempf had the final out in his glove, but dropped a foul pop-up. He came back on the next pitch to get Milone on a ground ball.
“Oh, man. I was thinking about throwing as hard as I can right down the middle and hoping he strikes out,” Kaempf said. “I was pretty disappointed about dropping it, but I got back on the mound. I tried not to show too much emotion and get the last out. We won, that’s all I can ask for.”
Prairie Ridge allowed six unearned runs in the second inning on three errors and several McHenry bunts. Only three of McHenry’s runs were earned for the game.
“I’m proud of our guys for fighting back,” Wolves coach Glen Pecoraro said. “We’re down 9-1, most teams would have folded up. We were fortunate to get back in the game. I’m just disappointed we didn’t finish it.
“Komar had a big hit for us Monday, a double down the line. I felt good about Komar and Milone. If we’re going to go down, that’s the guys I want up there.”
McHenry 12, Prairie Ridge 10 (9 inn.)
McHenry 062 010 102 – 12 12 3
Prairie Ridge 010 003 600 – 10 12 6
WP: Logan Wirtz (1.2IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 3K). LP: Dylan Bremer (2IP, 3H, 2R, 0ER, 1BB, 2K).
Top hitters–McHenry: Eddie Synek 2-5 (3RBIs), Kyle Kaempof 2-4 (2RBIs), Cooper Cohn 2-5 (RBI), Gavin Micklinghoff 1-4 (2B, 2RBIs), Lleyton Grubich 2-3 (2R), Wirtz 2-3 (RBI). Prairie Ridge: Bremer 3-4 (2B, 2R, RBI), Trace Vrbanic 3-5 (2B, 2RBIs, 3R), Nathan Koteras 2-3 (2B, RBI), Jack Tobin 1-2 (HR, 3RBIs).