Barrington sophomore Dan Pohlman is the future of Barrington baseball. He’s also the reason the present is shaping up pretty nicely.
Pohlman belted two home runs and went the distance on the mound to lead Barrington to a 5-3 victory over Warren in the semifinals of the Barrington sectional.
Things don’t get any easier for the Broncos (31-8) as they face defending state champion Schaumburg (29-5) in Monday’s sectional final. The Saxons eked out a 1-0 victory over Carmel in Saturday’s second semifinal.
Barrington and Schaumburg split a pair of games this season, the last coming on May 23 when the Broncos prevailed 9-6 in the Mid-Suburban League title game.
Pohlman got things going for the Broncos in the top of the second lofting a solo home run over the left field wall, his eighth of the year.
“I hit a slider or a curve and at first I thought I had just popped it into the outfield, but luckily it just kept going,” said Pohlman.
The Broncos lead didn’t last long as Pohlman made his only mistake of the game in the third inning. After giving up back-to-back singles to leadoff hitter Tim Zorich and Lance Johnson, Pohlman fell behind Warren’s Jake Hansen 3-1. On the next pitch, Hansen sent a Pohlman change-up 360 feet over the right field wall to give Warren a 3-1 lead.
“Danny didn’t throw that bad of a pitch in that situation, but Hansen saw the pitch from the start and just crushed it,” said Barrington coach Kirby Smith.
Now trailing, Pohlman went back to work offensively in the top of the fourth. After two men were out, senior John Austin reached base on an error. Pohlman then delivered with a towering shot over the wall in straight away centerfield to knot the game at 3.
“After giving up a shot to them in the previous inning it was definitely an incentive to go back out there and get the runs back,” said Pohlman. “I was sitting on an off-speed pitch and luckily I was able to do something with it.”
With the game tied Pohlman settled down on the mound retiring 13 of the final 15 Blue Devils he faced to cruise to his ninth victory with only two defeats.
While Pohlman was taking care of the Blue Devils, Jason Mergott and Chip Quiatt drove in runs for Barrington runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
After the game Pohlman talked about the contribution of his teammates.
“After giving up the home run in the third I sort of settled down because I have so much confidence in our offense,” said Pohlman, who allowed six hits and struck out seven. “We have put runs on the board all season and I knew we could score if I just held them.”
Barrington coach Smith agreed with Pohlman’s sentiments, indicating that his sophomore pitcher had a pattern of settling down as the game went on.
On the other side of the diamond, Blue Devil coach Dan Townseno saw no reason for his team to hang their heads.
“We played a great game today, unfortunately our pitchers made a few mistakes to guys who could drive the ball,” he said.
In the second semifinal, Schaumburg hurlers Mike Weel and T. J. Nall combined on a three-hit shutout, while Nall provided all the offense the Saxons needed with a solo home run in the top of the fourth.
Nall came into the game with runners at second and third and a 1-2 count on Carmel’s Chris Schaffer. After walking Schaffer to load the bases. Nall struck out Corsair first baseman Mark Harmon looking.
Nick Leider then stroked a ground ball right up the middle, seemingly for a base hit, but Saxons shortstop Steve Schrandt made a spectacular play to start an inning-ending double play.
“The one constant we have had this year is the play of our defense,” said Saxon coach Paul Groot. “We knew coming into the game that the Carmel pitcher would be tough, but our defense pulled us through today.”
