DeKalb rally falls short in 7th, Metea Valley holds on for win

DeKALB – With the game already stretching past two and a half hours, DeKalb had a chance to complete a four-run comeback in the seventh inning Thursday against Matea Valley.

But Drew Hopkins got Michael Clayton to strike out with a runner on third, preserving a 9-8 win for the Mustangs.

“We were one hit away from playing in the dark,” DeKalb coach Jeff Davis said. “The other day we pulled one out and won by one. Today we come up a little short and lost by one. And we had the right guy at the plate, too.”

The Barbs trailed, 9-5, heading into the bottom of the seventh, with Elliot Lange leading off with a double. Hopkins, who pitched four innings of relief and allowed one run in his first three, got the next two batters.

Tucker Ikens, who came over from football practice late and entered the game in the sixth inning, tripled home a run. Nick Nunez reached when a batted ball hit an umpire, then Jack Keck tripled them both home.

Clayton, who entered the game in the second after coming over from football practice, struck out looking on a pitch Davis said was inconsistent with what had been called all game.

“Drew came in to relive our lone senior starting pitcher, so credit to Drew,” Metea Valley coach Steve Colombe said. “So credit Drew. He pitched through some odd stuff there. A ball drops in the outfield, a ball hits an umpire, you don’t see that too much. Probably one of their better hitters for DeKalb [in Clayton coming up with two outs]. So it’s nice to see a sophomore pitcher bear down and get the last out of the game and seal the victory.”

Colombe said he was impressed with Hopkins, considering it was only his second high school appearance after pitching in relief for the Mustangs (2-4 overall, 1-1 DuPage Valley Conference) last week.

Each team scored two runs in the first inning, with Landon Simonson, who was filling in for Clayton at shortstop, doubling home Keck. Hayden Anderson then plated Simonson on a single to tie the game for the Barbs (2-3, 1-1)

DeKalb added two more runs in the second for a 4-2 lead, with Ashton Gates singling home Keck and Lange driving in Clayton, who doubled in his first at-bat of the game.

Metea Valley scored three runs in the third inning, two of which were unearned off Lange, and four in the fourth. Lange allowed three of those runs, one of them earned. Shawn Ager allowed an unearned run in the inning for the Barbs, as the Mustangs led, 9-4, after four innings.

“If we could erase that fourth inning, I thought we played a pretty decent baseball game,” Davis said. “We had five errors today defensively. That has to get better. We hit well early and we hit well late, but you have to put a whole baseball game together.”

Davis said he felt the Barbs defensive woes carried over to the plate in the middle innings. They had only one runner reach base between the third and fifth innings, in which Keck drew a walk.

“It’s good to be hard on yourself, but this game is so mental you have to be able to forget and move forward,” Davis said. “But we have a lot of young kids and we’re preaching it.”

In three innings, Lange gave up six hits, two walks and struck out three. Three of the eight runs charged to him were earned. Ager allowed only one unearned run in his three innings, while walking two, striking out one and allowing one hit. Carson Smith allowed one hit in his inning of relief for DeKalb.

Keck was 2 for 4 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs from the leadoff spot. Gates was 3 for 4, Hayden Anderson was 2 for 4 and Nick Nunez was 2 for 4, scoring twice.

DeKalb outhit Metea Valley, 13-8.

Davis said it’s still a weird situation to be in with football going on and players like Clayton and Ikens coming into the game late.

“It’s been a weird year and a half,” Davis said. “We’re just grateful we get to play. But the kids that filled in, Simonson, he did a great job to come up with the double there in the first inning. Michael is usually our regular shortstop, but it’s nice the young kids get some playing time.”