Senior left-hander Adam Smylie normally pitches to contact and lets Huntley’s fielders do their jobs.
With a gusting wind hitting 30 mph or more Thursday, chasing the ball became a challenge.
So the 6-foot-5 Smylie took care of potential fielding problems by striking out nine in a two-hitter as Huntley defeated host Jacobs 4-1 in the Fox Valley Conference.
“Usually hitters swing a little earlier on me, but today they were waiting back, and I was hitting my spots,” Smylie said. “I was making them swing at the curve and at outside pitches for the strikeouts. I was trying to keep it so they couldn’t pull anything.”
Smylie (3-0) went the distance, and Tyler Koss’ two-run double in the sixth gave Huntley (13-3, 7-1) a 2-0 series edge with a chance Friday to sweep Jacobs (12-4, 5-3).
“I thought this was the best game that Adam pitched for us in two years, and he’s pitched a lot of big games,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “Ninety-three pitches — he was efficient — and he made just one bad pitch all day.”
Jacobs’ Adam Kale drove an 0-2 pitch for a two-out RBI single in the fifth, and the Golden Eagles led 1-0.
“I was kicking myself over getting that one out over the plate where he could get it,” Smylie said.
Smylie escaped a first-and-third jam following Kale’s single by getting Ryan McGorrian on a soft liner to second. Smylie dodged the only other trouble he faced in the second in more dramatic fashion.
With two on and none out, he struck out the side.
“The bottom line was Smylie is a veteran, crafty, a John Tudor-ish type of guy,” Jacobs coach Jamie Murray said. “And he was keeping us off balance and was phenomenal.
“It was as good a high school performance as I’ve seen in my nine years in this program.”
Jacobs starter Cory Dennison matched Smylie until the sixth, when Koss pulled a one-out double over third to score two runs. Koss scored later on an error.
“I feel like I’ve been a little shaky hitting so far, but that hit is definitely going to give me confidence going into the next game,” Koss said. “I had the count in my favor and just turned on it.”
Brad Maurer drove in Huntley’s other run with an RBI single in the seventh.
Huntley’s pitching staff came in Thursday having allowed an average of only 2.1 runs per game.
“With our staff, we’re always going to be in every game, and we know it,” Smylie said. “We’re riding that pitching right now.”
Jacobs’ pitching has been almost as effective in a year when pitching depth is abundant throughout the Fox Valley. Now Murray hopes his team’s hitting develops.
“We’ve got 17 new guys this year,” Murray said. “It takes time.
“We’re confident that come postseason we have the right guys in place and growth will happen.”
Twitter @genechamberlai2