Baseball: Huntley's Bryan Doherty no-hits Dundee-Crown
Updated: April 27, 2012 9:25PM
On the strength of a Bryan Doherty no-hitter, Huntley topped host Dundee-Crown 5-0 on Friday in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division play.
Doherty (3-2) needed just 91 pitches to record the no-no, striking out 12, as he was dominant from start to finish.
“(Doherty) changed speeds really well, attacked the strike zone, he pitched to contact and he got a bunch of strikeouts,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said.
For Doherty, it was his second no-hitter of the season as he also twirled one against Palatine back on March 29th, and the McHenry County College recruit has already had a season to remember. However, he was quick to credit his teammates for making the feat possible.
“My defense was working for me all day, my shortstop (Jordan Chuipek) was amazing and the whole team was amazing behind me,” said Doherty, who issued two walks. “I thought my pitch location was good all game and I was really comfortable with the pitches coach was calling for me.”
Despite the nearly flawless outing from Doherty, it was not until the top of the seventh that the Red Raiders (12-11, 5-6) broke into the scoring column as they plated five runs in the inning.
Tyler Albright got things going with a pinch-hit single, and Colin Lyman beat out a bunt on what was an attempted sacrifice to put two men on with nobody out.
That ended the day for Chargers starter Nick Lodi (2-4), who allowed seven hits over six innings with a pair of strikeouts, as Ryan Suwanski came on in relief.
Chuipek (3-for-3) came up next and attempted to move the runners over with a bunt. The play was fielded by Chargers first baseman Mike Hazelhurst, but his throw skipped past the third baseman and the Red Raiders scored their first run of the game.
“We got off to a nice start in the inning and I was just trying to move the runners over, but it was fortunate for us that he made a bad throw and we just kept it going from there,” Chuipek said.
Huntley then got an RBI single from Nicholas Corpolongo and an RBI groundout from Mark Skonieczny before a pair of errors resulted in two more unearned runs.
With so many strikeouts, there were not many chances for the Chargers to record a hit, but there were a pair of huge defensive plays that helped keep the no-hitter intact.
The first came with two outs in the fourth inning when Hazelhurst scalded a shot down the first-base line and all Raiders first baseman Kameron Sallee could do was knock it down off his chest. Doherty was there though, and fielded the toss in stride on his way to covering first base as he stepped on the bag for the out.
The other defensive gem came in the bottom of the sixth when Garret Ryan hit a slow roller up the middle that looked like a tailor-made infield single. However, Chuipek charged hard from short and threw a strike to first to beat him by a step and record the out.
“All you can do is tip your hat to (Doherty), he was throwing just as hard in the seventh as he was in the first, and he kept us off balance all day,” Chargers coach Tom Parisi said.
Huntley snapped a four-game skid with the win while Dundee-Crown (6-13-1, 3-8) saw its losing streak reach six.
© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment