No. 2 Huntley Defeats No. 20 Jacobs, Sweeps Conference Series
May 24, 2021
On Monday afternoon No. 20 Jacobs hosted No. 2 Huntley in game-two of their two-game Fox Valley Conference series. Huntley sophomore Ryan Bakes made an early statement for Huntley, leading off the game with a home run to left field and they never looked back, knocking off Jacobs by a final score of 6-2.
Bakes, a South Carolina commit, currently ranked No. 5 in Illinois’, launched the leadoff home run and set the early tone for the Red Raiders. Bakes continues to be one of the most impactful sophomores across the state this spring. Huntley scored again in the top of the second inning to extend their lead to 3-0. Junior Josh Good lined a ball just to the left of the shortstop for a single to begin the frame. The Red Raiders eventually scored on a Bakes hit-by-pitch and were threatening to add more with the bases loaded and nobody out. However, the Golden Eagles were able to get out of it thanks to a clutch 1-2-3 double play and a groundout.
Triton JC commit Michael Moise got the start and win for Huntley. The 6-foot, 185-pound senior right-hander battled his command in spots but stayed away from the middle of the plate, scattering four hits and one earned run in his 5.2 innings pitched. Moise ran his fastball up to 88 mph in the early goings and mixed in a 73-74 mph breaking ball that flashed slurve action at times. One of Moise's only mistakes was to Jacobs sophomore third baseman Anthony Edge. With two out in the bottom of the fourth, Edge got a pitch he could handle and barreled a home run over the left field wall to give the Golden Eagles their first run of the game.
‘23 3B Anthony Edge (@HDJBaseball) delivers a #PBRbombsquad to cut into the @huntley_bball lead.
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) May 24, 2021
Huntley 2, Jacobs 1 | T5 pic.twitter.com/YxHtVaf4lR
Huntley answered Edge’s home run in a big way the very next frame. With one out, right-handed hitting junior Ryan Kelly smoked a ball into center field that ended up clearing the wall for a two-run home run. The long ball by Kelly extended the Huntley lead to 4-1 at the time. Kelly came up again in the top of the seventh and drove in the final run of the game for Huntley on a poke to left field with the infield drawn in.
‘22 Ryan Kelly answers for @huntley_bball w/ this two-run #PBRbombsquad. @PBR_Uncommitted
— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) May 24, 2021
Huntley 4, @HDJBaseball 1 | B5 pic.twitter.com/kgUL6Uvnvk
Michael Vitellaro, a junior left-hander came out of the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth and picked up the save for the Red Raiders. Vitellaro, who works from a side-arm, low-¾ slot topped at 80 mph and gets a lot of action on both his fastball and sweeping breaking. Vitellaro went 1.1 innings, scattered one hit, no runs, struck out one and walked one.
With the win, Huntley sweeps the two-game set with conference-foe Jacobs.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
+ Ryan Bakes (Huntley): 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, R,
+ Ryan Kelly (Huntley): 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB, SB
+ Josh Good (Huntley): 1-for-3, R
+ Anthony Edge (Jacobs): 2-for-4, HR, RBI, R
+ Michael Scardina (Jacobs): 1-for-1, R, 2 BB, SB
+ Nate Cihak (Jacobs): 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 3 BB
For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.
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