No. 12 Streamwood, Harris remain unbeaten

By Drake Skleba

NAPERVILLE - No. 12 Streamwood (10-0; 4-0 River) has been pounding the baseball at an amazing clip this spring. In a big Upstate 8 Conference crossover matchup with No. 23 Neuqua Valley (6-2; 1-2 Valley), the Sabres hit the Wildcats with five runs in the first inning and coasted to a convincing 8-2 triumph on Monday. The recipient of the early five-run lead was the Sabres? Josh Harris.

The Villanova-bound left-hander fired his third consecutive complete game, allowing two runs and five hits and struck out eight to improve to 3-0 for the season.

?It was really great to get the five-run lead in the first inning,? said Harris. ?It helped me relax and pitch well for us. We really played a team game today. We were great in all three facets of the game.?

Streamwood didn?t waste any time, scoring five times in the top of the first. Sabre leadoff man Nate Pearson singled against Neuqua Valley starting pitcher junior Nick Blackburn. Senior Pat Manning made it 2-0 Sabres after he hammered his first home run of 2011.

?I hit the ball to right and the wind just took it out for me,? said Manning. ?It was a great feeling watching the ball go out of the park.?

Later in the inning, senior 1B Bobby Post stroked a two-run double and No. 9 hitter Zach Bucher singled home Post and Harris had his five-run cushion.

?I just reached out and hit the ball and drove in the two big runs for us,? said Post. ?I?m seeing the ball well and had a good day at the plate.?

Neuqua Valley got on the board on a solo homer from Wildcat senior DH Ryan O?Keefe to cut the lead to 5-1.

The Sabres would add a pair of runs in the fifth on an RBI double from red-hot junior LF Alex Morrow (2-for-4; RBI) and a sac-fly by Post.

?It was great to come in here and put eight runs on the board,? said Morrow. ?We really want to pay South Elgin back for last year.?

Upstate 8 Conference crossover action will continue on Tuesday. Streamwood will be home against South Elgin. Revenge is on the minds of the Sabres against their rival Storm. In 2010?s Class 4A Dundee-Crown Regional Championship game, South Elgin rallied from a 12-2 deficit and stunned the Sabres 13-12.

?It was really nice to put a crooked number on the board in the first inning,? said Streamwood head coach Steve Diversey. ?Josh Harris was outstanding for us for the third straight start this year. Josh even has picked up a save for us. Please tell Duncan when you talk to him tonight to remove the ?fluke? in front of the Streamwood name.?

Neuqua Valley will travel to St. Charles North on Tuesday. The battle between the Wildcats and the North Stars will be the PBR Game of the Day. Sean Duncan will have all the action covered.