Dundee-Crown, Hazelhurst edge Huntley

Updated: May 28, 2011 11:06PM

After using two different pitchers in their previous wins over Huntley, Dundee-Crown baseball coach Jon Sawyer went to a third arm Saturday at the Huntley Class 4A Regional.

And Mike Hazelhurst got the Chargers the trifecta, blanking Huntley 1-0 for D-C’s first regional title since 2007.

“We wanted to give them a different look,” said Hazelhurst, who is a lefty.

“I wanted to stay ahead of their hitters and I was able to do that. I also kept the ball down and my defense played great behind me.”

Added Sawyer: “We knew they had a lot of left hand hitters. He did a great job of containing them and we played pretty solid defense behind him.”

Dundee-Crown (24-13), which used right-handers Tyler Gross and Mike Lodi in their previous wins against Huntley, got all the offense they needed in the second inning.

Nick Spagnola singled and stole second. He then went to third on a fielder’s choice and scored when Jim Griffin reached on a error.

From there, Hazelhurst (6-1) outdueled Huntley’s Brian Doherty (5-2). Hazelhurst struck out three and allowed just three hits while Doherty allowed five hits while fanning three.

Huntley (22-12) mounted its only solid threat in the sixth. The Red Raiders got singles from Colin Lyman and Jordan Chuipek. But Hazelhurst got a strikeout and then retired Huntley in order in the seventh to preserve the win.

“It was a well-played game,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “They just executed better.”

The Chargers advance to Thursday’s DeKalb Sectional semifinal to face Cary-Grove.

The victory also extended the tenure of Sawyer, who took a teaching position in Grayslake after he was let go because of budget cuts in School District 300.

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