High school baseball insider: McHenry's Joe Kaminski is Athlete of the Week; Power Rankings; more

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Joe Kaminski, McHenry, sr., P-DH

Kaminski fired a no-hitter at Dundee-Crown and also was 3 for 5 in their two games as they swept the Chargers, 8-0 and 8-1.

Kaminski struck out 12 and ran his scoreless string to 14 innings with the 8-0 no-hitter April 23. He also was 1 for 3 with a double and an RBI in that game.

On Thursday, as designated hitter, he was 2 for 2 with two runs scored and three RBIs in the Warriors’ 8-1 victory.

Kaminski has a 4-0 record, an ERA of 0.46, 53 strikeouts and 11 hits allowed in 30 1/3 innings.

NORTHWEST HERALD POWER RANKINGS

1. Huntley (17-4): The Red Raiders have won eight in a row after sweeping Jacobs last week. They held off the Golden Eagles, 6-5, in eight innings, then outscored them, 22-1, in the other two games.

2. Cary-Grove (16-4): The Trojans have won eight consecutive games and have allowed only 39 runs all season. C-G and Prairie Ridge each have outscored their opponents by 102 runs.

3. McHenry (13-6): The Warriors were 2-0 for the week behind two more strong pitching performances from Kaminski and Jake Evans. They have allowed more than five runs only once in the past six games.

4. Prairie Ridge (17-6): The Wolves score runs in bunches. They average eight runs a game and have outscored their foes by 102. They put up 47 last week and went 3-1.

5. Hampshire (13-8): The Whip-Purs have lost 3 of 4, but won six in a row before that. And those losses came against Prairie Ridge and Kishwaukee River Conference-leading Burlington Central.

NOTEWORTHY

Heating up: Richmond-Burton has been one of the area's hottest teams with eight wins in its past 10 games. The Rockets have thrown themselves right into the KRC race, winning their past seven league games.

The defending KRC champs have received some strong pitching from Luke Uhwat, Connor Donohoe and Dalton Wood. Those three have 98 strikeouts and 12 walks for the season.

“Connor has been big for us his past four starts,” Rockets coach Mike Giese said. “He’s thrown three complete games, all resulting in wins. And he is now hitting over .330 for us. He’s really stepped up.”

Giese would like to see R-B tighten its defense a bit.

“If we can do that, we will be in good shape,” he said.

Immaculate inning: Crystal Lake South sophomore Will Frisch had about as impressive of a varsity debut as is possible in last week's 6-2 victory at Chicago University High. Frisch's first varsity inning was an immaculate inning: nine pitches and three strikeouts.

Gators coach Brian Bogda said the players were well aware of what was going on.

“The team was so excited for him,” Bogda said. “[Junior varsity] coach [John] Carroll recommended I take a look at him. He impressed me.”

Frisch threw 30 pitches and allowed one hit in three scoreless innings.

Marengo, BC benefit game: Burlington Central will play at 11 a.m. Saturday at Marengo in the teams' annual Game to End Alzheimer's. Proceeds from the event will go to the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Chicago.

Both teams will wear white-and-purple shirts to honor those who have been affected by this disease, as well as their caretakers. The uniforms will be auctioned off for $20 each after the game.

Also, all money from concessions, a raffle of donated items and silent auctions will go to the association. The raffle will include gift cards and Marengo and Burlington baseball apparel. The silent auction items include Cubs tickets and a foursome of golf at Blackstone.

WHAT TO WATCH

Prairie Ridge vs. Huntley

Prairie Ridge is 1 1/2 games behind defending FVC champion Huntley to start the week. The series starts Saturday in Huntley, moves to Prairie Ridge on Monday, then back to Huntley to finish Tuesday.

Burlington Central vs. Richmond-Burton

The teams were rained out Monday and Tuesday, but will try to get their game in Wednesday at R-B. Burlington leads R-B in the KRC by 1 1/2 games. They are scheduled to play Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in what should be a pivotal league series.