Baseball: Huntley defeats Fox Valley rival Hampshire

Updated: April 12, 2012 8:38PM

Huntley came in to the 2012 baseball season with high expectations. The Red Raiders have failed to live up to the expectations so far, but may have turned a corner after a 5-2 victory Thursday over visiting Hampshire.

Starting pitcher Bryan Doherty was nearly flawless for the Red Raiders. Doherty (2-1) went six innings and allowed two runs on just four hits. The Huntley right-hander gave up only one hit during the first five innings before Hampshire (7-4-1, 1-1 Fox Valley) finally started to make solid contact.

“I was happy with how I pitched against a good Hampshire team,” Doherty said. “I basically pitched to contact and my defense made all of the plays.”

Huntley (8-5, 2-1) got the scoring started in the first inning thanks to an RBI triple by junior Colin Lyman. The Louisville recruit finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI.

“I was happy with my approach today especially against a tough lefty,” Lyman said. “We played well today, especially on defense and it felt good to get a win.”

The Red Raiders held a 3-0 lead after the third inning, but things could have been a lot worse for Hampshire. Whip-Purs pitcher Luke Wians was able to escape jams and keep his team in the game.

“Luke (Wians) pitched well, but defensively we let him down,” said Hampshire coach John Sarna. “You have to tip your hat to Huntley. They played better and deserved to win the game.”

Trailing 5-0 in the sixth, Hampshire finally was able to start getting hits off Doherty. The Whip-Purs loaded the bases and scored two runs before Doherty was able to get Hampshire to ground out and end the threat. Jake Perkins pitched the seventh to earn his third save of the season.

Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski was happy to get the victory, but still wants more out of his offense.

“We defended well and Bryan Doherty did a great job changing speeds and pitching to contact,” Jakubowski said. “We need to be better at getting that clutch hit to knock guys in.”

© 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.