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March 21, 2022

Ryan Kelly, left and Brayden Bakes, high-five each other during a game against Belvidere North March 17. The Red Raiders won the home opener, 9-4.
Steve Peterson
Ryan Kelly, left and Brayden Bakes, high-five each other during a game against Belvidere North March 17. The Red Raiders won the home opener, 9-4.

Sports • March 21, 2022

Huntley nine ready for solid spring

By

Huntley baseball fans will probably not have to, as the saying goes, “need a scorecard to tell who is playing.”

“The Red Raiders will return 16 players from last season,” Huntley High School head coach Andy Jakubowski said.

“We have an athletic group of players who will put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses. The Red Raiders will buy into the team approach by playing to their strengths and manufacture runs.”

Leading returnees are three All-Fox Valley players who contributed to the Red Raiders’ league title,

in a 32-3 season and run to the sectional final. They are senior Ryan Kelly, a right-handed pitcher who is

headed to Kaskaskia College; senior four-year letter winner Brandon Hanley, who plays catcher and

third base, who will attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and junior Ryan Bakes, an outfielder

and catcher.

Another strength of the Red Raiders will be pitching.
“On the mound, HHS will return more than 100 innings from last season,” Jakubowski said.

Senior right hander Adam Guazzaro, a University of Valparaiso recruit; junior right hander Adam

Ressler, headed to Butler University; senior Michael Vitellaro, a Heartland Community College recruit; senior Payton Barr, bound for Milwaukee School of Engineering, return to the rotation.

The Red Raiders may have chalked up a 30-win season last year but know the FVC will always be a challenge.

“The FVC is one of the toughest conferences in the state,” Jakubowski said, “We look to defend the

conference championship, The FVC will be loaded again with five or six teams with a legitimate shot at winning the FVC crown. Teams from the FVC will be battle tested and there definitely should be some teams that will make a long playoff run.”

Jakubowski summed up the goals for 2022.

“Our players are focused and excited for the season,” he said. “The goal for this year’s squad has not changed from previous years as we are focused on getting better 1 % each day and being quality teammates. We will focus on little things such as commanding the strike zone, playing solid defense,

have quality at-bats. Ultimately the goal is to be playing our best baseball at the end of the season and make a strong post-season.”

Jakubowski enters his 26th year as a baseball coach with a 454-310 overall record with stops at

Rockford Boylan, Jacobs and HHS. He has a 359-195 record in the Red Raiders dugout. The mentor is a 2020 Illinois Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee.