No. 1 Huntley Rallies Late to Knock Off No. 20 Naperville Central

No. 1 Huntley and No. 20 Naperville Central squared off in a non-conference Power 25 matchup. Quality pitching from both sides had the offense in a stalemate for most of the game until a 4-run seventh inning propelled Huntley to a 4-1 victory. No. 1 Huntley (21-1) found themselves chasing a run heading into their last half-inning of offense. Nick Martino and Tyler Castro, a McHenry County JC commit, both singled to put runners at first and third with one out. Ryan Bakes, a South Carolina

commit, drew a walk to load the bases. Brandon Hanley would go on to ground into a fielder’s choice to plate Martino and tie the game at 1. Ryan Kelly then proceeded to hit a sac fly to left-field which scored Castro and made it 2-1 Red Raiders. Brayden Bakes would come up and deliver a hard-hit ball to the first-base side, scoring Bakes and Hanley on an error to make it 4-1.

No. 20 Naperville Central (15-4) started out the third inning with a single from JT Albrecht. Andrew Porter would move Albrecht over to second with a sac bunt to set up Charalambos Nicoloudes; who went on to rip a single up the middle and score Albrecht to give the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead at the time.

The Red Hawks were led on the mound by senior Kyle Steele. Steel went 5.1 innings and allowed just 4 hits, 2 walks no runs and struck out 4. Steele featured above average feel for 3 pitches. His fastball sat 79-81 early on with arm-side life. Slider was his go-to secondary offering this game in the 66-68 mph range which he would throw in any count, including the first pitch of the game. Changeup was thrown at 75-77 mph with the same arm speed as his fastball and late diving action.

The Red Raiders of Huntley were led on the mound by freshman, Malachi Paplanus. The right-hander went 4 innings allowing 4 hits, 1 earned run and struck out 5. Paplanus featured a fastball that sat 80-83 mph early on with arm-side life. He used a slider at 72-74 mph with sharp 10/4 action and thrown with confidence in any count to keep the Red Hawks hitters at-bay.

Michael Vitellaro picked up the 4-out save for the Red Raiders.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

+ Kyle Steele (Naperville Central): 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 ER
+ Ryan Kelly (Huntley): 2-4, RBI
+ Tyler Castro (Huntley): 2-4
+ Brandon Hanley (Huntley): 1-3, RBI
+ Brayden Bakes (Huntley): 1-4, RBI
+ Charalambos Nicoloudes (Naperville Central): 1-4, RBI
+ Jack Busch (Naperville Central): 2-3

For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.

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