Prairie Ridge, Riley Golden shake off iffy start, Crystal Lake South

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge senior starting pitcher Riley Golden had an uncharacteristically rough start to Monday’s Fox Valley Conference home game against Crystal Lake South.

The NCAA Division-I University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee southpaw commit allowed four singles and a walk – plus four runs – in a turbulent top of the first inning that saw nine South batters come to the plate.

This, despite striking out three batters in the process.

“That just isn’t like him at all,” Wolves coach Glen Pecoraro said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have an inning that tough.

“South just came out and immediately punched us right in the mouth.”

But the struggle was temporary.

The Wolves (11-3-1 overall, 4-0 FVC) rallied to score nine unanswered runs from then on, which led to a 12-9 Prairie Ridge win on an evening where the wind was howling out to right field from start to finish.

Golden only allowed two more hits over the next 4⅔ innings, plus a walk. He finished with 13 strikeouts in 5⅔ innings in what turned into a fundamentals masterpiece to pick up the victory.

While the top of the first lasted 23 minutes, Golden could do little wrong after that, striking out two in the second inning, three in the third, one in the fourth, then two each in the fifth and sixth.

He departed at 105 pitches, and according to Pecoraro, wanted to stay in the game.

“I love that mentality,” Pecoraro said.

That mental toughness was evident when Golden spoke about the contrast between the first inning and the subsequent ones.

“My mentality was to just shake it off,” Golden said. “Things like that happen sometimes, and I was a little caught off guard that South was attacking my fastball so aggressively right away to open the game.

“I started working quicker, changing my speeds more. My splitter was getting good movement, and my fastball was getting good tailing action. Honestly, I think the wind helped its movement a bit.”

Golden struck out every Gators starter at least once.

But as effective as he was Monday, the Wolves bats also provided plenty of thunder.

P-R pounded out 18 hits, and it all started with senior leadoff hitter Brennan Coyle’s hustle triple in the Wolves’ first at-bat in the bottom of the first.

“After falling behind 4-0 right away, I wanted to find a way to re-energize our dugout,” Coyle said. “Just tried to play the game the same way I always do.

“Honestly, I think Karson Stiefer driving me in [with an RBI single] one batter later was even bigger. It was urgent that we answered back right away.”

Prairie Ridge scored three runs in the first, then four more in the second, capped by a two-out home run by Stiefer to right-center that narrowly cleared the wall.

Coyle finished the game 3 for 4 with three runs and three RBIs, while Stiefer also went 3 for 4, with his long ball plus a pair of singles and two runs scored.

Leading 8-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning, teammate and cleanup hitter Maddon McKim smoked a line-drive solo homer to right, making it 9-4.

South (8-5, 2-2 FVC) got a run back in the fifth when Gators starting pitcher Yandel Ramirez helped his own cause with an RBI single. Prairie Ridge responded with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, to pull ahead 12-5.

Just when it seemed like a Wolves victory was a sure thing, the Gators sprung to life, scoring four times in the top of the seventh.

Liam Sullivan (1 for 3, walk) led off with a double, followed by a Ramirez walk. Jackson Lee then ripped an RBI single, which was followed by a Nolan Dabrowski walk.

The Gators added an RBI single from No. 8 hitter Nick Stowasser, then a bases-loaded RBI hit-by-pitch from No. 9 batter Xander Shevchenko, making it 12-8.

Leadoff man Carson Trivellini scored Dabrowski with a sacrifice fly one batter later.

South had the potential tying run up to bat, but despite sending nine hitters to the plate in the seventh, struck out to finish the game with runners at second and third, ending what would’ve been a spectacular comeback.

The Wolves also defeated the Gators last week on the road, 6-4, the first time they met.

“This wasn’t just a big win because it was against a conference opponent who’s really good and one of our rivals,” Coyle said. “It’s also something that potentially affects sectional seeding later in the season. So this was one we wanted to have really badly. To their credit, the entire team found ways to all contribute.”

All nine Prairie Ridge starters reached base at least once. The Wolves have scored 42 runs in their first four FVC games.

“We’ve got two big matchups against Hampshire later in the week,” Pecoraro said. “We’ve got to show up ready to play.”