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MAPLE PARK — Getting the most of a rare start, Kaneland second baseman Adam Gerlach drove in the tying and go-ahead runs as the Knights came back against DeKalb on Friday to win, 5-3.
“I’m just trying to get the ball in play, make the defense actually work,” Gerlach said. “Looking at not striking out.”
The Knights (6-4) trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Alex Panico stole second and advanced to third on an error on the tag attempt. Gerlach ripped a liner down the line at third and it seemed to hit Panico right on the ankle in fair territory and caromed into left field, but neither umpire saw it.
DeKalb (4-4) never trailed before the play and never led again.
“It changes the entire demeanor of the game,” DeKalb coach Josh Latimer said. “I feel very strongly that game was taken away from us. At the end of the day we still gotta do what we have to do and handle our own business. When we get down we’ve got to be able to put the ball in play and drive in runs, too. But unfortunately that did completely change the game, yes.”
[ Photos: DeKalb baseball travels to Kaneland ]
Gerlach came to the plate again with two outs in a tie game in the fifth with Gabe Gooch on second. He blooped the ball into shallow center to score Gooch and give Kaneland a 4-3 lead.
“G-Money, yeah,” Kaneland coach Brian Aversa said of Gerlach. “G-Money, we said we’re going to give you your shot today and he took advantage of the opportunity, put the ball right where it needed to be and we got a big run out of it. We’re happy for him and he had a big smile on his face.”
Patrick Collins hit a sacrifice in the sixth to pad the Kaneland lead to 5-3, plating Johnny Spallasso, who reached on a double off DeKalb reliever Nate Nunez.
Carson Smith got the start for the Barbs, scattering eight hits over five innings. He allowed two earned runs.
“I thought he was lights out,” Latimer said. “He did a good job of keeping guys off-balance. We had a couple unforced errors behind him and that hurt us as well.”
Spallasso, who started for Kaneland, lasted three innings, allowing two earned runs. Nunez hit a sacrifice fly that brought home Jackson Kees in the first, then Ethan McCarter and Will Klumpp hit back-to-back doubles in the third for a 2-1 lead. Kees then singled home Klumpp for a two-run lead.
There were still runners at first and second with no one out and Nunez, the cleanup hitter, up in the third inning. But Spallasso struck out the next three batters to escape the jam.
After four hits against Spallasso, the Barbs couldn’t get a hit off reliever Dylan Conklin in his three-plus innings of work. He walked four and hit a batter while striking out four.
“Dylan came out firing,” Aversa said. “Sometimes he tries to be too perfect and he misses spots and that kind of gets in his head. But overall he did the job we needed him to do.”
The Barbs did get runners to second and third with one out in the fifth after walks to Jack Keck and Nunez, but Conklin escaped the jam.
“I thought we played a great game,” Latimer said. “It was a nail-biter of a game. I knew it was going to be that way any time we come in and play Brian and Kaneland. He’s got a phenomenal program here. I love what he does. At the end of the day my guys played well and I felt we were really deserving of a win. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way today.”
Kees had a pair of hits for the Barbs while Panico joined Gerlach with a two-hit game for Kaneland.
“We let a good DeKalb team hang around and it almost bit us in the butt,” Aversa said. “I think we’re capable of playing better. We did enough to win today but you could probably say the same thing for them as well.”