Halted by darkness, McHenry and Prairie Ridge still battling for FVC supremacy

McHENRY – One day, real soon, likely Monday, Huntley’s streak of seven straight Fox Valley Conference baseball championships officially will be over.

In the meantime, everyone waits.

And waits.

McHenry has waited since 2011 to win the FVC title. Prairie Ridge last captured the championship in 2019, when the Wolves shared it with Huntley.

So, what’s one more weekend of waiting for the Warriors and Wolves?

Counting a 32-minute delay due to lightning in the area, McHenry and Prairie Ridge played three hours and 43 minutes of ball and one bonus inning Friday, and the final conference standings are still not complete. The two teams’ conference finale was suspended again, this time because of darkness and after eight innings completed, with the score tied 2-all.

When the game is resumed at 4:30 p.m. Monday at McHenry, Prairie Ridge will be batting in the top of the ninth inning.

Prairie Ridge (24-7-1, 13-4) needs to win in order to earn a share of the FVC title with McHenry (26-4-1, 14-3), which beat the Wolves on Wednesday. McHenry will win the conference championship outright with a victory.

“We’re not satisfied at all,” McHenry first baseman Conner McLean said. “Our whole vision all season has been to go to state and win it, so this is just meeting expectations as of right now.”

Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro wasn’t happy either after watching his Wolves get thrown out on the bases three times, including a failed delayed double steal in the third inning.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” Pecoraro said. “We were fortunate to be in the game.”

Wolves starting pitcher Danny Savas had an adventurous second inning, as McHenry scored without benefit of a hit thanks to a perfectly executed delayed double steal by Nathan Niedhardt (second base) and Kyle Maness (home). Savas walked a batter, balked, hit two batters and faced a bases-loaded situation before striking out Warriors leadoff hitter Carver Cohn for the final out.

Savas then pitched two scoreless innings, striking out five. He was done after the game was stopped with McHenry about to bat in the bottom of the fifth.

“I was one batter away from pulling him,” Pecoraro said. “The thing about Danny is, he’s done that all year long. He’s gotten himself in trouble, and then he’s pitched himself out of it. After he’s pitched his way out of a tough inning early, he just cruises. ...

“He was making his best pitches when the game was suspended.”

Sean Sherwood relieved Savas and was dominant, striking out seven in three no-hit, scoreless innings. The hard-throwing senior righty showed off four-seam and two-seam fastballs and a couple changeups and curveballs.

“I was getting tired out there on the bump that last inning,” Sherwood said. “It was coming out pretty well today. I had great defense behind me. I have all trust in those guys, and I know if [the opponent] is going to hit it, they’re going to make the plays that we need.”

Prairie Ridge pulled even in the fourth on an RBI single by Connor Innis. The Wolves then took the lead in the eighth after Karson Stiefer (3 for 4, triple) led off the inning with a bunt hit. He scored two batters later on Maddon McKim’s RBI double.

McHenry had only one hit – Landon Clements’ single off Savas leading off the third – through seven innings. Innis, who relieved Sherwood, struck out the first batter he faced in the eighth before yielding back-to-back singles to McLean and Maness. Speedy Jeffry Schwab beat out a would-be 6-4-3 double play to drive in the tying run.

Innis got a strikeout for the final out, as McHenry stranded runners on first and second.

Warriors starter Brady Elbrecht threw five innings before Donovan Christman relieved his fellow senior.

“Defensively, we’re pretty solid,” Warriors coach Brian Rockweiler said. “We’ve been there all year. Pitching has been there all year. Again today, they picked us up. Offensively, we’ve been inconsistent a little bit all year.”

There is still time for the Warriors, however, starting Monday as they seek to win the outright FVC title.

“I don’t think we’re really trusting the process and trusting what the coaches say,” McLean said of his team’s up-and-down offense. “If you look at our lineup, we have the guys – Carver (Cohn), Kaden (Wasniewski), me. We’re just not really putting it together. We’re getting out at the wrong times.“

2019, shared with Huntley