Pitching in a sectional championship game wasn’t anything new for Huntley’s Nick Laxner. Getting past a shaky start was the unfamiliar part.
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But a wobbly beginning Saturday seemed like ancient history once Laxner settled in and got on a roll.
After allowing a run in the top of the first inning, Laxner shut down Barrington the rest of the way for a 7-1 victory in the Class 4A McHenry Sectional championship game.
Huntley (31-6) advances to face Loyola at 5 p.m Monday in the Schaumburg Supersectional at Boomers Stadium.
“After the first inning, one of my coaches (Dan Jennings) took me into the bullpen and got me to locate my fastbal,” Laxner said. “And from there it just got better.
“I definitely got stronger as the game went on. I got ahead in the count because they weren’t going to swing at the curveball and then I would just come after them.”
The senior right-hander needed 104 pitches to earn the complete-game victory. He scattered four hits and walked three, but none after the second inning. He also struck out eight, including the side in the sixth.
Two years ago, Laxner beat Grant in a sectional final, pitching 5 2/3 innings.
“He’s battle-tested and knows what’s going on, so we have the utmost confidence with him out there,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said of Laxner. “His pitch count stayed down so it gave him an opportunity to throw a complete game.
“He was awesome being able to change speeds and get the breaking ball over, which got them out on their front foot.”
AJ Henkle delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning and the Red Raiders scored another run on a balk in the third. They broke the game open with Matt Rodriguez’s two-run double with two outs in the fourth for a 5-1 lead.
Huntley added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Hunter Rumachik walked with the based loaded and Henkle drove in the other with a sacrifice fly.
“We were just trying to get base hits,” Rodriguez said. “Not trying to do too much or put it over the fence with the wind blowing in. We just tried to hit line drives and ground balls and take it up the middle, and we did a lot of that.”
Laxner set the Broncos down in order in the third and fourth innings. When he allowed a double in the fifth, catcher Kamrin Hoffmann threw out the aggressive runner who was trying to steal third on a ball in the dirt.
“You could tell that their whole dugout was down after that,” Hoffmann said. “They were talking after they scored that first run, but were down after that. And (Laxner) was just out there having fun, doing his thing.”
C.R. Walker is a freelance writer for The Courier-News.