Prairie Ridge had the pitching. It had the defense. But Grayslake Central’s Beau Barrows made sure the Wolves didn’t have the hitting.

Third-seeded Grayslake Central’s starter limited sixth-seeded Prairie Ridge to just three singles – two on the infield – as he took down the Wolves 3-0 in the Class 3A Cary-Grove Regional baseball championship Saturday in Cary.

Slated by Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen to go just two innings, Barrows was efficient enough to go all seven, walking one while allowing his defense to limit Prairie Ridge.

“I thought we prepared really well,” Prairie Ridge coach Austin Padjen said. “The kids were fine. You know, it just didn’t go our way, and that’s baseball, as in life. We couldn’t get anything offensively going. I thought both of our arms on the mound were awesome. I thought defensively we were great, and that’s kind of been our M.O. all year. Just a tough way to lose.”

There were opportunities for the Wolves (23-9), especially early with three baserunners in the second and third innings combined. However, each opportunity was wiped away by double plays turned by the Rams (27-8).

“I think we had the momentum early because of that,” Barrows said of the double plays. “We just rode with it.”

Prairie Ridge had just one single after the third inning, that being a Beckett Breseman single in the sixth. However, he was stranded there.

Gabe Winkleman and Jack Spindler had the only other hits for the Wolves.

“Every inning I went, the confidence just grew,” Barrows said. “I felt better and better as the game went on.”

Grayslake Central didn’t have a ton more luck against Prairie Ridge’s combination of Owen Satterlee and Jack Reina, tallying just four hits while striking out six times. But what the Rams did do well was take advantage of free baserunners.

Lead-off hitter Jayson Domerchie walked and scored in each of the first and fifth innings, the latter on Charlie Surowiec’s double – the lone extra base hit of the game. Bryce Carlson was hit by a pitch in the third and scored on a Carson Woods single.

Those runs were enough to bring to a close Padjen’s first season as head coach.

“This being my first year back at my old high school, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids,” Padjen said. “The seniors led by example, the juniors got better, and all our kids did really. It was a really good atmosphere. We’re going to be fine. We have kids, we have coaches. We’re going to get better. We’ll be back.”