Baseball: Rajkovich, Sandburg Score Late-Inning Knockout vs. Homewood-Flossmoor

Touching All the Bases: With one swing of the bat, Sandburg’s Dylan Rajkovich erased any lingering doubts cast by a couple of squandered scoring opportunities in the early innings. Rajkovich belted his first varsity baseball grand slam as the Eagles pulled away for a 10-0 six-inning victory over Homewood-Flossmoor on Tuesday afternoon in Orland Park. Alec Nelson had three hits in four at-bats, scored two runs and drove in the Eagles’ 10th run in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out single. Matt Farrington (6-2) pitched a three-hit shutout and struck out five as Sandburg reduced its magic number to clinching at least a share of the Southwest Suburban Blue Conference championship to 1.

Patch’s MVP: Dylan Rajkovich, senior, left fielder, Sandburg. He went 2-for-4, including a fourth-inning grand slam, scored two runs and finished with four RBIs.

Homewood-Flossmoor Leaders: Dan Lietz (1-for-3, double), Nick Brandt (1-for-2), Ryan Redmond (1-for-2).

Sandburg Leaders: Dylan Rajkovich (2-for-4, grand slam, 2 runs, 4 RBIs), Alec Nelson (3-for-4, double, 2 runs, 1 RBI), Zach Reks (2-for-3, double, 1 run), Matt Farrington (2-for-3, double), Austin Cangelosi (2-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI).

Quotable I: “We kind of let the game go right through our fingers in the beginning,” Sandburg’s Dylan Rajkovich said. “We had opportunities. We were trying to be a little too fine on the basepaths. Also, we were trying to do too much hitting-wise. Their pitcher made his pitches when he had to. Then, we got lucky and finally broke it open in the fourth inning.”

Quotable II: “It started off with a double and, then, after that we started bunting and forcing them to make plays,” Sandburg’s Alec Nelson said of the Eagles’ two-run second-inning burst. “They weren’t able to make the easy plays. Later in the game, I think they got tired and we got to them then.”

Quotable III: “Yeah, he threw a lot of outer-half strikes,” Homewood-Flossmoor coach Todd Sippel said of Sandburg’s Farrington. “We weren’t willing to go the other way. That’s the bottom line. If you don’t go the other way with a lefty that has movement on the outer half, that is what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a long day. We didn’t make any adjustments at all.”

Team Records: Sandburg is 21-6-1 overall and 9-4 in the Southwest Suburban Blue with one conference game remaining—Thursday’s rematch vs. the Vikings in Flossmoor. Homewood-Flossmoor is 17-11 and 5-8.

What’s Next: Homewood-Flossmoor plays at Oak Forest at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 16. Sandburg plays host to Shepard at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 16.