Baseball: Brandon Helbig delivers 4 strong innings as Jacobs beats Crystal Lake Central

CRYSTAL LAKE – Jacobs senior pitcher Brandon Helbig was not thinking big when he entered a wacky game at Crystal Lake Central in the fourth inning.

“I don’t think about finishing the game,” Helbig said. “I think batter to batter, just get the next out and get my team in the dugout as quick as I can.”

Helbig was masterful at that. After a third inning in which the teams combined for 15 runs, only two of which were earned, Helbig and Central sophomore Drew Welder brought back some sanity.

The Golden Eagles came through with a huge sixth inning, scoring seven times, and Helbig finished off a 15-8 Fox Valley Conference victory Monday at Fred Tipps Field.

“Just stay calm. I knew all the guys would bring back the energy once we started getting going,” said Helbig, who struck out eight, walked one and allowed three hits while throwing 55 pitches. “It was earlier in the game, you have to get 21 outs. I just stayed calm on the mound, threw strikes and let my defense work.”

Jacobs (7-3, 2-0 FVC) had a big sixth going when left fielder Paulie Rudolph ripped his first homer of the season, a three-run shot to left field, to make it 13-8.

“I saw a changeup up,” Rudolph said. “Loose mind when I went up there. We needed a big hit, and I finally hit one. Finally elevated. I had four off the fence, I finally got one out. We really needed that for the team.

“I’m proud of our guys to come through.”

The Golden Eagles were in great shape in the third when they capitalized on two errors for seven unearned runs. They had Bradley-bound Anthony Edge, who had strong starts all season, on the mound.

But Jacobs ran into its own defensive problems in the bottom of the third, the strangest of which was catcher Mark Takasaki’s throw after a third strike in the dirt that broke through the webbing of first baseman Christian Graves’ mitt.

The Eagles committed four errors, and six of the Tigers’ runs were unearned.

“That guy [Edge] is as good a pitcher as I’ve had in the program in my 12 years here,” Eagles coach Jamie Murray said. “I know he wanted to do well, but sometimes your teammates pick you up. It’s OK. He’ll be fine.”

Central coach Andy Deain challenged the Tigers (4-5, 0-2) as they came to bat in the bottom of the third.

“I asked if they were going to roll over or continue to play the game,” Deain said. “They continued to play the game. We played hard all seven innings. I’m proud of my boys for that.

“The boys showed really good compete being able to answer back that way. We talked about we had to put one on the board and answer back. One of our goals is always to score immediately after they score. To put up eight after they put up seven was unbelievable.”

Welder threw two scoreless innings to keep Central’s lead at 8-7 entering the sixth.

“He did his job, that’s what we asked of him,” Deain said. “We were hoping to get six to nine outs out of him. He gave us a chance to win the ballgame.”

Jacobs had a three-run lead with two outs when Rudolph connected for his shot.

“I’m super proud of our guys. You get off to a big lead and have an outstanding pitcher on the mound, who’s been super, incredible things for us,” Murray said. “Brandon’s a three-pitch guy, and he threw strikes and kept them off-balance with his changeup and slider.

“He embraces that [reliever] role. He pitched like he had a lead and threw strikes, no freebies. He has a really good changeup and a slide-curveball piece. He won’t blow you away, he’s 78 to 80 [mph].”

Edge and Caden Guenther each drove in two runs, and Graves had a double and a triple in the sixth inning.

Central got two RBIs each from Sean Kempf and Welder. Jaden Obaldo was 2 for 4 with a double, a triple and one RBI.

Jacobs 15, Crystal Lake Central 8

Jacobs 007 007 1 – 15 12 4

CL Central 008 000 0 – 8 10 3

WP: Brandon Helbig (4IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 8K). LP: Drew Welder (2IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K).

Top hitters–Jacobs: Paulie Rudolph 2-4 (2B, HR, 3RBIs), Nick Gottfried 2-3 (2R), Christian Graves 2-5 (2B, 3B, RBI), Anthony Edge 2-3 (2RBIs), Caden Guenther 1-3 (2RBIs). CL Central: Sean Kempf 2-4 (2B, 2RBIs), Welder 1-4 (2RBIs), Rhett Ozment 2-3 (RBI), Jaden Obaldo 2-4 (2B, 3B, R).