Early in his baseball career, Kaneland pitcher Jack Frey came to a sudden realization. The senior left-hander knew that he wasn’t going to light up any radar guns.
The result? He had to get creative.
“I feel like since I was a kid I had pretty good movement,” he said. “I didn’t have much velocity, so I had to get pretty crafty. I have a little bit more now, but I still find myself going back to off-speed.”
With that in mind, Frey kept Sycamore off-balance Wednesday, striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings.
However, Frey didn’t get the offensive support he needed as the Knights dropped a 5-0 decision to the Spartans in the second game of an Interstate Eight Conference series in Maple Park.
Frey suffered the loss but allowed up only two earned runs on four hits and a walk for Kaneland (6-9-1, 4-3). He gave up just one unearned run in the first five innings, with a double by Adam Eder in the sixth being the first Sycamore hit to get out of the infield.
Kanon Baxley and Brayden Boyer came through with the only two hits for Kaneland. Jackson MacDonald hit a two-run homer in the seventh for Sycamore (8-8, 6-1).
Frey unleashed his five-pitch arsenal, thwarting the Spartans most of the way.
“He was dealing the whole game,” Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh said. “We couldn’t figure him out. I know we had a boatload of strikeouts. He must have been doing something a little bit different than a normal lefty does.
“I have all the respect in the world for that kid. He did a great job. I thought he pitched his tail off and deserved a better fate.”
It’s what Kaneland coach Brian Aversa has come to expect this season from Frey.
“Jack’s been really good for us,” Aversa said. “He’s been strong in all of his outings. We’re not down on him at all. It stinks taking an L, but he’s one of our guys.
“His stuff was working well, keeping guys off-balance, a lot of strikeouts. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from him.”
Frey keeps hitters guessing because of his rare ability to throw five different pitches for strikes.
“I have a change-up,” Frey said. “I go two-seam away and then cutter in a lot. I have a four-seam and my slider was really nice (Wednesday). I felt great out there.
“All the pitches were moving a lot, perfect spots with all of them. That was nice.”
Kaneland trailed 1-0 but Frey was dominant going into the sixth. A leadoff walk and Eder’s double made it 2-0. He picked up his ninth strikeout, then left the game. Eder eventually scored.
With the Knights’ offense only mustering two hits, though, that was enough for Sycamore.
“Nothing against (Frey), just zero support offensively,” Aversa said. “We’re trying some things with the lineup and they didn’t work. It hurts losing on your home field, especially to these guys.”
Frey figured out he would have a big role on the team this season. And so far, he has delivered.
“My main goal was for us to win the conference and for me to get all-conference,” Frey said. “Then hopefully have some success in the playoffs.”
As it turns out, that playoff run may be the end of the line for Frey’s baseball career.
“Right now, I’m just planning on going to Marquette,” Frey said. “If I get an offer, that could change.”
If it’s the end of Frey’s career, there isn’t much time left to savor things. Only two conference series against Morris and LaSalle-Peru remain before the regular season wraps up on May 26.
“It’s going pretty quickly,” he said.
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
