“Small ball” decisively paid off Wednesday when No. 5 Buffalo Grove exploited deft bunts and daring baserunning to win its 19th straight game, 9-3 over No. 3 Schaumburg and its ace lefty John Hummel.
Going into the bottom of the sixth inning the score was tied 2-2. Schaumburg had tied the game on Joe Atamian’s two-run homer in the fifth. Buffalo Grove had scored one run on Nate Johnson’s successful second inning suicide squeeze and the other run on Chris Pietroski’s fourth inning theft of home on a double steal.
It was like the “Go-Go” 1959 White Sox beating the 1927 Yankees. The Bison stole four bases, executed four sacrifice bunts and beat out two other intended sacrifices for hits.
Buffalo Grove scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to improve to 21-2 overall, while Schaumburg dropped to 17-4. But even in its big inning, the Bison played small ball.
An infield bleeder, a bunt single, a bouncer over heads of drawn-in infielders and three Schaumburg errors contributed to the big inning. Eight of the nine runs off Hummel (7-1) were unearned.
“We’ve played this way all season,” Bison coach John Wendell said. “We’re aggressive. We execute, and the players buy into it.”
— Bill Jauss.
Lyons Township 7, Morton 3: Chris Green scored two runs for No. 2 Lyons (19-3).
Homewood-Flossmoor 8, Bloom 2: Tony Scariano’s four RBIs led the No. 6 Vikings (14-4, 3-1) in the SICA East.
De La Salle 7, Gordon Tech 2: Romey Bracey and Jim Hynes each had two RBIs for the No. 7 Meteors (20-2, 11-1) in the Catholic League.
St. Charles East 10, East Aurora 0: Richard Peel and Gabe Bauer each had three RBIs for the No. 10 Saints (20-6, 19-4).
Benet 5, Marian Catholic 2: Chris Musielak had two RBIs for the Redwings (18-4, 7-2) in the East Suburban Catholic.
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Mt. Carmel 4, Loyola 2: Cesar Carrillo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and scored a run as the Caravan (19-6, 10-3) won in the Catholic League.
Softball
Sandburg 4, Queen of Peace 1: The No. 1 Eagles (17-2) won behind Nikki Netzel’s five-hitter.
Oak Park 4, Glenbard West 0: Annie O’Brien pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts for the No. 2 Huskies (18-0, 7-0) in the West Suburban Silver.
Glenbard North 2, Wheaton Warrenville South 1: Lindsey Veselsky tossed a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts for the No. 3 Panthers (20-1, 7-1) in the DuPage Valley.
Richards 2, Romeoville 0: Lindsey LaChiana’s one-hitter with 13 strikeouts led No. 5 Richards (15-2, 4-0) in the SICA North.
Andrew 3, Minooka 0: Bridget Krueger struck out seven for the No. 7 Thunderbolts (14-4).
Barrington 4, Buffalo Grove 0: Abby Reed pitched a five-hitter as the No. 10 Fillies (24-1, 10-1) won in the Mid-Suburban West.
Girls soccer
Wheaton Warrenville South 2, Downers Grove South 0: Kristin Radcliffe and Lauren Holcomb scored as the No. 3 Tigers (11-1-2) defeated No. 4 Downers South. Kate Cahalan had seven saves for Wheaton South.
Boys gymnastics
Elk Grove sectional: Elk Grove won its own sectional, advancing to the team competition part of the state meet next week.
Elk Grove won with a score of 147.55, edging Conant, second at 146.05. The Grenadiers will be one of five sectional winners at the team competition at the state meet at Schaumburg.
Elk Grove coach Bill Watts, in his 21st season, said the Grenadiers have narrowly missed qualifying for the state meet several times during his tenure. “We’re fortunate to be able to take a team to state this time,” he said.
Basketball
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UIC signs two: Farragut forward Elliott Poole and Shepard guard Mike Smith signed letters of intent with Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-6-inch Poole, a Tribune first-team All-State selection, averaged 24 points and 14 rebounds as a senior and led Farragut to a 22-10 mark.
The 6-2 Smith averaged 15.2 points and 4.6 rebounds as a senior at Shepard, which was 23-6.