Baseball: Jacobs tops Dundee-Crown in high-scoring affair

Updated: May 14, 2012 10:50PM

Jacobs came out on the winning end of a slugfest Monday as it plowed past Dundee-Crown 19-12 in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division matchup in Algonquin.

The Golden Eagles (17-13, 11-7) jumped out to a huge early lead, tallying nine runs in the bottom of the first inning.

The team sent 13 hitters to the plate in the inning, registering seven singles and a pair of walks to chase out Chargers starter Nick Lodi after just 1/3 of an inning. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) on six hits with three walks before giving way to reliever Chris Gorman.

The Chargers (8-17-1, 5-13) didn’t roll over from there, though, as they got on the board with three runs in the top of the second and added four more in the top of the third.

“I’m real proud of my boys,” Chargers coach Tom Parisi said. “I told the guys there was a lot of baseball left and they took it upon themselves to keep motivated on the bench and we kept battling back. The problem was they kept scoring and it was just too much for us to overcome.”

That resilient effort showed again in the top of the fifth when the Chargers trailed 17-7 and were three outs from losing via the 10-run mercy rule. However, an RBI double from Luis Garcia assured the Chargers of another inning, and an RBI triple from Zach Girard capped Dundee-Crown’s scoring.

Leading the way for the Golden Eagles was third baseman Zac Camacho, who went 4-for-4 with a home run and five RBI while Max Rider also tallied a four-hit game including a pair of doubles. Ryan Ulmer added a 3-for-4 performance out of the No. 9 spot in the order with four RBI.

“I thought we swung the bats very well, obviously, and that was the most runs we’ve scored all year,” said Jacobs coach Jamie Murray. “I was very pleased with our offensive approach taking the ball the other way and hitting behind the runners.”

For the Chargers, Garcia led the way with a 3-for-5 performance that included a double and three RBI, while Girard had two hits and three RBI out of the leadoff spot. Dylan Kissack and Ryan Suwanski added three hits apiece.

While the win didn’t come as easily as it looked like it would from the start, playing with a big lead was a new experience for a young Jacobs team and something it can no doubt learn from.

“This was our 30th game, and we’ve talked about trying to learn and take something away from every game, and today for the first time all year we had a situation where we had a big lead, and with a young team that lesson was how to put away a game,” said Murray.

© 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.