Huntley’s Matt Rodriguez said he was just trying to do whatever he could to help his team in Monday’s Class 4A Schaumburg Supersectional game against Loyola.
Rodriguez did much more than that.
The senior designated hitter hit for the cycle, leading the Red Raiders to an 8-4 victory and the second trip to state in program history.
Huntley (32-6) will face Lake Park (24-14) at 3 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals at Joliet Route 66 Stadium.
“It’s just a good feeling that I was doing well and that I even had the chance to do that,” Rodriguez said of hitting for the cycle. “I knew they had good pitching. I was just trying to do what I could.”
Rodriguez started the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. He cracked an RBI triple and came in as part of a four-run second. His RBI double in the fourth gave Huntley a 6-0 lead.
His fifth homer of the season, a two-out solo shot to left-center in the bottom of the sixth, provided insurance.
“That’s a senior stepping up in a big moment,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “Matty’s done that for two years for us now. He does a great job. We really love having him in the middle of the order.”
The triple is generally the hardest part of the cycle to attain. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Rodriguez is more bulldozer than speed merchant, making it more improbable.
“You could hear the whole crowd, like, ‘Whoa, here he comes,’” Jakubowski said. “When you hit the ball 400 feet there and leg it out, good for him.”
The early offense was accompanied by dominant pitching from junior Elijah Paplanus (5-1).
With aces Nick Laxner and Kyle Morgan unavailable due to pitching in the sectional, Jakubowski turned to Paplanus. He was perfect through four innings and with two outs in the fifth as Huntley led 6-2.
“We went with Eli because it would give us a better opportunity defensively,” Jakubowski said. “He earned it all year with the way he’s pitched.
“The focus was hopefully to get four or five (innings) and then turn the ball over to (Grant Yakimisky), and Hunter (Rumachik) could also be in the mix. We had all three of them lined up and we were able to get through.”
Rumachik earned his fourth save.
The win set the program record for victories in a season. Huntley has the chance to add to that total this weekend.
“It’s just a great feeling,” Rodriguez said. “No one thought of us as being this good earlier in the year. We just wanted to prove them wrong.”
The Red Raiders finished fourth in their only other state trip in 2010. With Laxner and Morgan fully rested, Jakubowski likes their chances this time around.
“It’s a special group of guys,” Jakubowski said. “Guys have bought in from day one. I couldn’t be more proud of them. These guys remind me so much of our 2010 team. They’re unbelievable. Let’s go try to win this thing now.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
