A.J. Putty’s late heroics lift Huntley past DeKalb to regional title

ROCKFORD – With runners at second and third and two outs in a newly tied game, A.J. Putty wasn’t expecting to see pitches to hit.

The Huntley leadoff hitter made the most of the opportunity, coming up with a two-run single to give the Red Raiders the lead for good in an 8-4 win over DeKalb on Saturday in the title game of the Class 4A Guilford Regional.

“I was expecting them to walk me so I was taking advantage of that,” Putty said. “They threw me a hanging breaking ball, and I just hammered it.

Huntley (21-15) has won regional titles in the past eight postseasons. The Red Raiders will look for their first sectional title since 2018 when the team was second in the state when they head to the McHenry Sectional at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to face the hosts.

“It’s one step in our goal,” Putty said. “We want to go as far as we can this year, and I think we have the potential to do so.”

DeKalb (25-11-1) led 4-3 heading into the top of the sixth thanks to a home run from Cole Latimer in the bottom of the fifth, but starter Brodie Farrell gave up his third and fourth hits of the game, singles to Ryan Dabe and Ashton Jones, before he hit the pitch count.

Jackson Kees came on in relief, having only thrown 40 pitches in DeKalb’s 10-0 semifinal win over Jefferson on Wednesday.

Eric Suarez singled to tie the game at 4, and an error on the throw advanced the runners an extra base to second and third.

“When you put up four runs and Cole hits that home run in the fifth to give us that lead, with Brodie and Jackson going, I never would have figured this was going to be the outcome,” DeKalb coach Josh Latimer said. “It’s just one of those things that at the end of the day for whatever reason Huntley is the monkey that is on our back. It just didn’t work out today.”

Putty’s single scored Jones and Suarez for the 6-4 lead, then Alex Behles hit a two-run double in the seventh for some insurance.

Putty earned the win for the Red Raiders, hitting the pitch count after 6⅔ innings. He allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked four. He and Dabe each had two hits.

“AJ was magnificent out there,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “He pitched to contact, and I thought defensively we settled down after the first inning. ... He stayed around the plate and didn’t hurt himself by putting out freebies.”

Putty and Jack Ezell started the game with singles off Farrell. The senior starter appeared to be on the way out of the jam after striking out Dabe with the bases loaded for the second out.

Behles hit a towering fly ball to left that got caught in the wind and bounced off Ruari Bengford’s glove, staking the Red Raiders to a 3-0 lead.

“I don’t know what happened with Ruari out there. It was just an unfortunate ball I think got up in the wind there a little bit,” Josh Latimer said. “He was kind of moving back and forth there and it might have hit the heel of his glove. It’s very unfortunate because ... you can’t give Huntley three runs like that. They’re just too good of a team.”

But the Barbs got two back in the bottom of the inning. Kees singled home Farrell and Nik Nelson scored on a passed ball. Despite three hits and a walk in the inning, the Barbs only sent five batters to the plate.

Cole Latimer doubled to start the inning but was thrown at the plate on Nelson’s single and Kees was caught stealing.

The Barbs also were picked off twice later in the game in addition to allowing four unearned runs to score.

“We made a few mistakes,” Josh Latimer said. “On the base paths, I was being aggressive in the first inning. But I thought the boys never quit. They did a wonderful job. This is a very special group that no matter how long I coach ... I’ll never be able to let go and never be able to forget.”

Isaac Black doubled in the fourth inning to tie the game at 3-3 then in the sixth Cole Latimer homered to give the Barbs the lead for the first time. Latimer and Kees each finished with two hits.

The season ends for the Barbs a win shy of their first regional title since 2017. But they set a record for wins in a regular season and won the DuPage Valley Tournament.

“The year was spectacular,” Josh Latimer said. “You win the DVC tournament, which was huge for the kids. You go on an 11-game win streak, you knock off Morris and McHenry who are both state-ranked. We were state-ranked for most of the year and finished right here with six in a row until that loss, you set a regular-season wins record. It’s just an impressive group of guys.”

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