Baseball: Jake Perkins leads Huntley past Jacobs
Updated: May 1, 2012 11:49PM
In a typical grind-it-out game between Fox Valley Valley foes Huntley and Jacobs on Tuesday, the host Red Raiders were able to execute more efficiently and came away with a 3-2 win.
Senior left-handed pitcher Jake Perkins (3-1) earned the win for host Huntley, allowing two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts over six innings. With Huntley (14-12, 7-6) up 3-0 in the top of the fourth, Jacobs had runners on second and third with one out, but Perkins worked out of the jam by inducing a groundout and strikeout to end the inning.
“Their pitcher did a nice job changing speeds,” said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray. “We told our guys to look for a good pitch to hit early in the count and Perkins seemed to get stronger as the game went on.”
Jacobs (13-10, 8-4) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first when an error on a ground ball to short allowed Colin Lyman to score from third.
In the bottom of the third, Jordan Chuipek connected on what turned out to be the game-winning hit, when he drove a two-out, two-strike pitch to right field for a two-run single.
“We’re about pitching and defense, and offensively, we’re coming around. Jordan came up with a big two-out hit and that helped push us through,” said Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski. “It was really a well-played ball game on both sides.”
Jacobs made things interesting in the top of the sixth when Connor Conzelman hit a towering home run to center field to cut the deficit to 3-1. Greg Sidor followed with a single, and Zac Camacho nearly tied the game with a home run, but settled for an RBI double off the fence.
With a pinch-runner on third and two outs, Perkins ended the inning by getting the No. 8 hitter to fly out on the infield.
Senior Dan Lowry set the Golden Eagles down in order in the seventh to end the game and get the save.
“They executed and did a little more than we did,” Murray said. “They had that two-out hit to extend the lead, and when you’re playing with a lead, it makes things easier.”
Jacobs junior Evan Blunk (4-2) pitched five innings and gave up two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
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