Baseball notes: Cary-Grove’s Ethan Dorchies has been next to an automatic win with his standout season

Cary-Grove’s baseball team feels good every time Ethan Dorchies’ turn in the rotation comes up.

Really good. Like, “OK, here comes another W” good.

Dorchies has been as close to a sure thing as any area pitcher this season. The only game he started that the Trojans did not win was their season opener, a 3-2 loss to Barrington in which he threw three scoreless innings and did not get a decision.

“I worked so hard in the offseason and to see it come to fruition and have success is amazing.”

—  Ethan Dorchies, Cary-Grove junior

“It’s been amazing,” said Dorchies, a junior righthander who is 6-0 after Monday’s 2-1 victory over Prairie Ridge. " I worked so hard in the offseason and to see it come to fruition and have success is amazing.”

Dorchies was a solid No. 3 starter for the Trojans as a sophomore. His significant jump has helped C-G to a 17-3 overall, 10-2 Fox Valley Conference record and first place in the league.

Dorchies (6-foot-5, 190) has an ERA of 0.54, a WHIP of 0.821, with 46 strikeouts and 10 walks in 39 innings. Opponents are hitting .095 against him.

“Ethan has been awesome on the mound,” Trojans catcher Nate Crick said. “His command, his control is phenomenal. He has great offspeed and great two-seam and four-seam that have run. He’s a really good pitcher and the energy with him is just off the charts.

“He learned a little bit more control over his pitches and he controls his fastball better. He gained a lot of velo to his pitches this year. His splitter and curveball have gotten so much better.”

Dorchies said he gained about 25 pounds from last season and his velocity has increased to around 87-88 mph, up about 5 mph from last year. Dorchies had a strong summer with his GRB Rays team and committed to Illinois-Chicago in October.

“This year I’m a lot more confident,” Dorchies said. “I’ve put on some weight and that helps with the physicality of the sport. The velo bump obviously helps with confidence. Being able to go out and there and say ‘I got this,’ and being able to command the zone with velo, it’s been great this year.

“It’s been amazing to be part of such a great team and to consistently win and have fun with my guys.”

Trojans coach Ryan Passaglia was pleased with how Dorchies reacted Monday when Prairie Ridge threatened late in a close game.

“He faced a little adversity late in the Prairie Ridge game, they got a couple guys on and he wiggled out of a jam,” Passaglia said. “He’s a very good pitcher. He’s still young and improving and that maturity is growing within him. He’s only going to get better.

“When he’s on the mound this year, the guys feel like they can win no matter who we’re playing because he has been pitching so well. We hope that continues.”

Welcome to the club: Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski got his 500th career victory in Monday’s 12-2 win over Jacobs. Jakubowski has been coaching for 23 years, the last 17 at Huntley. He recently hit the 400-win mark for only Huntley.

“It means I’ve been blessed with a lot of great players, coaches, parents, administrators supporting me,” Jakubowski said. “Our guys have bought into a system of pitching and defense and situational hitting, and we’ve done that for a number of years. It’s been carried down from year to year.

“Probably what’s most important, and what I’m most proud of, is the relationships and the people who come back and coach with us. It’s cool to see former players coaching high schools, that’s what I’m most proud of, as well as the number of kids we’ve moved on to the next level. It’s a longevity thing and we’ve been successful. I loved my Boylan years, I loved my years here at Jacobs, but I finally found a home at Huntley and it’s awesome.”

Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro will be next. The Wolves got him to 499 with a 4-1 victory over Hampshire on Wednesday. Fans and parents celebrated earlier this season after a Northwest Herald report read that Pecoraro was at 499. The numbers were taken off of Prairie Ridge’s page on ihsa.org, which were off by five wins.

This time, Pecoraro’s next win will indeed by his 500th.

Thou shalt steal: Woodstock North likes to live its baseball life in the fast lane this season.

The Thunder shattered the school record for stolen bases – North has 75 and the old mark from 2016 was 65 – and will put the record way out there for future teams to chase.

In Tuesday’s 3-2 victory over Marengo, North used its speed to produce two runs in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off Kishwaukee River Conference win.

Sean Pigliacelli swiped third base with one out, then scored the tying run on a wild pitch. When an errant throw got away at home plate, Morgan Klinker, who had been on second base, raced home with the winning run.

“Coach (John Oslovich) said, ‘If we’re going to out, go out our way,’ " Pigliacelli said. “Our way is using our speed on the bases. We broke our steal record the other day and it’s basically halfway through the year. We’re a fast team.”

Wise words: The victory over Marengo gave the Thunder a 1 1/2-game lead with another game remaining in their KRC series. While it might not have been the most artistic win, scraped for its last two runs on one hit, a hit by pitch, a wild pitch and an error, Oslovich had this to say.

“I played at Grayslake Central and (coach) Troy Whalen always told us, ‘You never apologize for a win,’ " Oslovich said. “We won’t apologize and we’ll move on.”

More Vogt records: Marengo senior Caden Vogt recently broke the school career doubles record and now has the Indians’ career home run mark with eight. Koty Kissack had the old mark at seven.

Kissack also had the season record with five, which Vogt just tied.

Who’s hot: Cary-Grove had a nine-game winning streak earlier this season and now has put together a streak of seven consecutive wins, currently the longest in the area.

Marengo also has been on fire with 12 wins in its last 14 games.

Huntley has won four of its last five, while Burlington Central has won six of eight and looks like a tough out in the Class 3A postseason.

Richmond-Burton is 7-10 and the Rockets have been hot with five wins in their last six games. R-B was 32-6 and Class 2A state runner-up last year, but graduated most of that team.