Baseball: Barrington’s big early innings key win over Buffalo Grove

Barrington showed that they can turn a loss into a huge win.

The Broncos found out earlier Tuesday that they could not win the MSL West for the first time in 11 seasons. But instead of moping around, the Broncos came out firing for a 9-2 win over Buffalo Grove in Barrington.

“On one hand it is unfortunate,” said Barrington coach Pat Wire, whose team finished second in the division behind Conant.

“But I am elated for (Conant coach) Derek (Fivelson). It was neck and neck until we came up short. But if this gets us to win a regional and become playoff savvy, I’ll take it.”

Despite the loss, Buffalo Grove (16-13-1, 12-4) still won the MSL East. The Bison had wrapped up the title on Monday when Hersey lost to Fremd.

Buffalo Grove will host Conant for the MSL title at 4:45 p.m. Friday. It will be Buffalo Grove’s third appearance in the title game in the last four years.

“We played pretty good baseball in the conference all year,” Buffalo Grove coach Bill Montemayor said. “We split with Hersey and Prospect and we had good success against the West except for today. We just put ourselves in a position late in the year and are excited to play on Friday.”

Barrington (19-11-1), which had lost three of its last four coming into Tuesday’s game, turned the tide on the mound and at the plate.

Will Nahza had a terrific outing on the bump. He allowed just four hits while striking out six. He also had a stretch where he retried 12 batters in a row.

“Today was all about just hitting your spots,” Nahza said. “I have had a few rough starts, but I am starting to get hot lately. I was really trying to lock in.”

The Broncos also had a huge day at the plate. They banged out 14 hits, with three of those going for extra bases.

Bryce Koch led the way for Barrington. The senior first baseman had three hits, including a double and a triple. He also drove in two runs and scored twice

“I have been trusting myself lately,” Koch said. “Not focusing on little things and just kind of swinging. We have been struggling on the offensive side recently, so it was good to see everyone getting hits today.”

Dillon Fitzpatrick also had three hits, three RBI and two runs. Patrick Podlesnik had two hits and three RBI, Noah Rasmussen had two hits and John Albrecht had a hit and an RBI.

“I have been struggling a little bit lately with trying to go opposite field,” Fitzpatrick said. “I worked on it in BP and got a little bit more relaxed in my stance and shooting to right field. I have been feeling the bat and trying to catch the ball on the barrel.”

Barrington got off to a great start.

The Broncos batted around in each of the first two innings. They had five hits in each inning and scored four times in each inning to lead 8-0 after two innings.

“Our guys just got woken up,” Wire said. “We have to realize that the little things we weren’t doing got done today. We got really good pitching and some timely hitting. I would just like to spread those hits over the next few games.”

Buffalo Grove scored single runs in the third and the seventh. Rocco Perricone had a sacrifice fly and Drew Sadowski had an RBI single.

Montemayor said Barrington’s hot start caused his team problems.

“You have to give them credit,” Montemayor said. “Their first four hitters put the barrel on the ball. They were ready and we weren’t. We just came out flat and when you come out flat in baseball this is what happens. But we will be ready on Friday.”