Prep Baseball Report

Cary-Grove sweeps No. 23 McHenry



By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

McHENRY, IL – No. 23 McHenry entered the week freshly minted in its first Top 25 ranking and atop the Fox Valley Conference, Valley Division standings.

Cary-Grove didn’t seem to care.

The Trojans completed a two-game sweep of McHenry with a 4-1 victory on a cold and windy Wednesday at Petersen Park. The victories thrust Cary-Grove (13-8, 8-3) right back into the Valley Division race.

Junior left-hander Larkin Hanselmann (5-1) led the way for Cary-Grove, pitching an efficient six-hitter with three strikeouts and no walks. Hanselmann shuffled a three-pitch mix to keep McHenry (14-5, 7-3) off balance as he retired the side in order in three innings.

Cary-Grove broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning on Will McGarrigle’s sacrifice fly to left field. Andrew Splitt led off the inning with a double to right field, and junior catcher Wyatt Mascarella followed with an infield single in the inning.

The Trojans added two insurance runs in the seventh on Splitt’s two-run single, scoring senior shortstop Dean Christakes and junior second baseman Matt Sutherland. Sutherland had led off the inning with his fourth walk of the game, and Christakes later followed with his second hit.

Christakes, a University of Chicago recruit, finished 2-for-4, including a RBI single in the third inning, and a stolen base. Splitt, who’s committed to UW-Platteville, also went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Sutherland scored two runs and had a stolen base.

McHenry’s offense could never get on track against Hanselmann. The Warriors tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning on junior DH Dylan Weston’s run-scoring double to left field. The left-handed hitting Weston also had a double to lead off the seventh inning. McHenry put runners on first and third, but Hanselmann induced a groundout to Sutherland to finish his complete game.

More in-depth scouting notes on the game will be posted in the Illinois Scout Blog later.

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