If April showers bring May flowers, then this game was definitely during a summery May night. The sun was beating down on the hot silver bleachers as eyes were barely open while watching the game. Blue skies all around showed not a hint of rain in the sky.

At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Crystal Lake Central’s Tigers played Huntley’s Red Raiders. After finishing a make-up game, the teams were ready to take on the first inning.

The first inning both teams had men on base but no runs were scored. In the second inning things started to get interesting with Huntley getting a base hit from Aj Putty which ended in two points scored for Huntley. 

Immediately after, Central got two runs off some base hits in the top of the third inning with no points scored in the fourth which made the score 2-2. But during the fifth inning, Central got ahead with some players walking. After a switch of pitchers, Eddie Johnson was able to finish out the top of the fifth on a strike out with only one run scored for the Tigers. This ended with the score being 3-2 Central.

“We’re hitting really good situationally,” junior pitcher Eddie Johnson said.

During the bottom of the fifth, Aleks Gogola scored when Ryan Bakes hit a double. Right after, Brayden Bakes brought him and his brother home with a home run. This made the score 5-3 Huntley.

“I think since we had a comeback out here tied 3-3, it helped us come through in the bottom of the inning, so I think it was good for our team,” senior Brayden Bakes said.

During the sixth inning, Cj Filipek scored with Ryan and Brayden Bakes on base making the score 6-3 Huntley after no runs from Central.

“Our guys gear up for conference games and we want to get better each and every game,” head baseball coach Andy Jakubowski said. “[With] just taking a small step in winning game one and then going into game two with the lead, hopefully we can finish it off and be 3-1.”

The game was paused halfway through the seventh inning as the sun set over the baseball field. The game will likely resume either Wednesday or Thursday of next week. 

Overall, Huntley remains number one in the Fox Valley Conference Week 5 Rankings and being 10-1. Huntley will have to see how the game finishes out next week to determine their future place in the conference.