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Bloomquist shakes off shiner, earns W
| Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media |
Updated: May 23, 2011 9:20PM
It takes more than a black eye to stop Elgin pitcher Drew Bloomquist.
Then again, this was a little more than just a black left eye the Maroons’ junior sported when he shrugged off the after-effects of being struck by a pitch in the seventh inning of Saturday’s JV game with DeKalb to throw six strong innings Monday and help lead fifth-seeded Elgin to a 3-2 victory over fourth-seeded Hoffman Estates in a play-in game of the Hoffman Estates Class 4A Regional.
“There was a lot of soreness and a lot of swelling,” Bloomquist said. “I woke up the next morning and this eye was pretty much closed. My parents said it was up to me and coach said it was up to me.
“I told them to give me the ball.”
Bloomquist (2-3) struck out three, walked no one until the the first two batters of the seventh, and gave up eight hits to pitch his team into a semifinal matchup Wednesday against top-seeded Streamwood. He had plenty of help in that seventh after putting the first two men on, as relievers Erik Daly and Alex Doty got the job done to preserve the victory.
The injury still looked puffy by Monday after Bloomquist had been to see a doctor Sunday. He had some double vision at first, but was fine later.
“I’m not going to say (the black eye) was just like I didn’t have it, but it wasn’t anything that inhibited me very much,” Bloomquist said.
The Maroons scratched and clawed, as usual, on offense, and got just enough. Javier Cardenas’ two-out single that drove in Ryan Walker from second in the fourth provided a 3-0 lead and made the difference in the game.
“We took advantage of some things,” Elgin coach Dave Foerster said. “We would have liked to have taken advantage of some more opportunties.
“We got a lot of guys on, especially early. But we’ll take (3 runs). It proved just enough.”
Bloomquist was aided by some slick fielding in an error-free Elgin effort. In the fifth, with Elgin up 2-0, Cardenas and catcher Gage Teschner teamed up to prevent a run. With runners on first and third, Hoffman Estates attempted a double-steal. Gage threw perfectly short to Cardenas, cutting the ball off between second and the mound before it could reach shortstop Lee Jackson. Then Cardenas fired back home fast enough to get a sliding Jordan Loikits.
“A lot of it is based on read from Javier at second,” Foerster said. “It just depends on what the runners are doing. We give him (Cardenas full range as far as how he wants to handle it. It was a good throw from Gage down, and then back.”
In the first, Elgin’s Shaiquielle Hayes singled, moved around to third on first baseman Trent Rehusch’s error on a ball hit by Cardenas, then scored on Lee Jackson’s sacrifice fly. The Maroons (5-27-1) added a second run in the second off losing pitcher Mark Roberts (3-6). Teschner singled, Adrian Martinez walked and shortstop Kevin Grudzinski mishandled the flip on a would-be force to get Martinez on Jordan Smith’s grounder, then threw wildly to first in attempt to get Smith. It let Teschner come all the way around.
“That’s not like us,” Hoffman Estates coach Todd Meador said. “We’re usually very solid playing defense and it’s very disappointing to give up three runs.
“He (Roberts) deserved better than that. If we make the plays, he throws a shutout. It’s as simple as that.”
Hoffman Estates (14-19) finally got to Bloomquist in the sixth for a run when Jim Ward singled, Ethan Bloom doubled and Rehusch hit a single that third baseman Jake Bartelt kept from going through to knock in two runs. Only Ward scored. Then Bloomquist got a pop out and hot grounder to first base to end the threat. In the seventh the first two batters walked and Foerster went to Daly, who struck out Grudzinski, threw a wild pitch and allowed a sacrifice fly by Mark Roberts to make it 3-2.
With two out, Foerster brought in Alex Doty, who will start Wednesday against Streamwood. Doty got a two-out flyout to center for his first save.
“I had a little bit of adrenaline going, but I liked it,” Doty said of a rare relief appearance. “I like the big moments like that.”
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