Baseball notes: Marengo’s Caden Vogt whiffs 18 in win against Woodstock North

Marengo pitcher Caden Vogt has developed a habit this season of making things as easy as possible on his defense.

The junior lefthander has 90 strikeouts in 43 innings, which means the Indians are usually required to only get seven other outs if Vogt pitches a full game.

Vogt made it really easy on the defense in Monday’s 3-1 victory over Woodstock North in their Kishwaukee River Conference game. He fanned 18 Thunder hitters.

“I was just thinking about winning the game,” Vogt said. “Just focusing on pitching to win. (The tight game) made me more focused on being able to pitch good and stay locked in. I got ahead early in the count so it didn’t put the pitch count high.”

Vogt finished the four-hitter with one walk and threw 99 pitches, 72 for strikes. He threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 26 hitters he faced.

Vogt’s 18 strikeouts are a season-high for area pitchers, one more than Johnsburg lefty Ian Boal threw in an early-season win against Evergreen Park.

“Caden was locked in, he threw all three pitches for strikes and we did a good job of mixing up speeds and keeping hitters off balance,” Indians coach Nick Naranjo said. “He was able to get ahead of hitters with both his fastball and curveball, he just had a ton of confidence today.”

Vogt also had an immaculate inning in the sixth when he threw nine pitches and posted three strikeouts.

Vogt is 6-0 with a 1.46 ERA and only eight walks. He also is swinging a key stick in Marengo’s lineup with a .423 average, 17 RBIs, 10 doubles and three triples.

“He’s got a patient eye at the plate, and when he gets his pitch he’s able to capitalize on it,” Naranjo said. “Lately he’s been seeing a lot of offspeed early, but he stays within our approach and shows good discipline. Over half his hits are for extra bases, so when he’s up we feel he’s going to hit a gap and be in scoring position.”

On Monday, Vogt contributed with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Vogt plays center field and hits third in the Indians’ order.

Vogt trains at GBR Academy (formerly Pro Player Consultants) in McHenry with pitching coach Andy Deain, who also is Crystal Lake Central’s head coach.

This summer will be a big one for Vogt with the GBR Rays as he looks for a college at which to pitch after high school.

“I would love to do this in college, especially at the highest level possible,” Vogt said.

R-B having a blast: Richmond-Burton just keeps putting up huge numbers offensively as it has stretched its winning streak to 14 consecutive games.

The Rockets (18-3, 10-0) were in position to clinch the KRC title with a win at Woodstock (8-7, 6-4) on Tuesday.

R-B has scored in double digits in nine of its last 10 games and scored 28 runs in two wins on Saturday. In the continuance of a KRC game against Woodstock North, R-B defeated the Thunder, 14-13. In their regularly scheduled Senior Day game, the Rockets defeated St. Edward, 14-11.

The Rockets won six games in seven days last week, hitting six homers in those games. Hayden Christiansen boosted his area-leading total to seven with three more, while Connor Wallace, Joseph Mrowiec and Brock Wood also went deep.

R-B had 23 extra-base hits for the week and 39 stolen bases.

For the season, Christiansen has a .615 average with 32 RBIs, Mrowiec has four homers and 25 RBIs, and Kaden Neuman (.449) and Jason Miller (.367) each have 21 RBIs. Wood (.397) has 19 RBIs.

Streaks end: Huntley’s winning streak was stopped at 11 by Jacobs, 5-1, on Saturday. McHenry had a seven-game streak halted that same day by Grant, 3-2.

Grant did something few teams have been able to do lately, in slowing down the Warriors’ bats. McHenry, which has won nine of its last 10 games, has scored eight or more runs nine times in that span.

When R-B comes to Petersen Park for a 6:30 p.m. game on Saturday, it will be a matchup of two of the area’s most potent offenses.

Big FVC series: Fox Valley Conference-leading Huntley suffered its first league loss to Jacobs behind pitching ace Nathan Chapman’s gem on Saturday. Chapman struck out eight and allowed four hits through six innings. Gavin Feck worked a perfect seventh with two strikeouts.

Chapman, who will pitch at Eastern Illinois University, was fired up for a shot at Huntley after the Red Raiders swept Jacobs late last season, bumping the Golden Eagles out of winning or sharing the FVC championship.

“I woke up today and wasn’t really feeling well,” Chapman said after Saturday’s win. “In the first inning I had a little mishap, I was a little dehydrated and wasn’t feeling well. Had to battle through it. We knew these guys are good, you have to respect that.”

Chapman needed a moment after retiring leadoff hitter Brayden Bakes on Saturday to take several swigs of water before returning to the mound. After that, he took control, allowing only one unearned run.

“He pitches once a week, he’s fantastically trained, he’s functionally strong,” Eagles coach Jamie Murray said. “He’s a smart kid. He knows their hitters, he’s been preparing for this since last year. He’s been studying those guys. He’s a big-game pitcher.”

Huntley’s Adam Guazzo, a righthander headed to Valparaiso to pitch, returned the favor on Monday in a 10-0 Huntley victory. Guazzo struck out 12 and allowed four hits in a six-inning complete game.

“It would have been nice to see him and Chapman go head-to-head, but Malachi (Paplanus) went toe-to-toe, we just made some mistakes (on Saturday),” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “It was awesome to see our guys bounce back today. That was big.”

Jakubowski likes the way Guazzo has developed his changeup, to go with his fastball and curveball, over the last month.

“I’ve been trying to throw it a lot more,” Guazzo said. “I’m forcing myself to throw it more in games because I didn’t have the confidence in it early in the season. It’s given me more confidence with a three-, four-pitch mix and being able to get batters out. I throw it more for a strike and get more swings and misses like that.”