Brothers play key baseball roles
HUNTLEY — Three families – the Bakes, Puttys and Dabes, are contributing to Huntley’s baseball success this spring.
The players are seniors Ryan and Brayden Bakes; senior Dillon Putty and sophomore AJ Putty and senior Mike Dabe and sophomore Ryan Dabe.
“I have never had three sets of brothers on the same team,” Huntley coach Andy Jakubowski said. “The one thing that all sets of brothers have in common is that they are all character guys and they show up each and every day.”
The six have been part of a successful Huntley program.
“It’s been a lot of fun playing for coach Jakubowski,” left fielder Ryan Dabe said. “He was my travel baseball coach, so I got to work with him year-round.”
For standouts Ryan and Brayden Bakes, they got a jump start on their days as Red Raiders.
“Both Ryan and Brayden came to our summer camps in middle school,” Jakubowski said. “You could tell the ball jumped off their bats different. They made the varsity as freshmen but that was the COVID year.”
Both Bakes were hitting over .400 earlier this season. Ryan is lead-off with Brayden second for more at-bats, Jakubowski said. The duo has had a some back-to-back home runs this season.
“I learned a lot at the summer camps,” Ryan Bakes, a designated hitter and catcher, said. Brayden Bakes recalled his start in the sport before his final high school baseball season started.
“I first began playing baseball around 6-years-old because it was my dad’s favorite sport,” Brayden said. “I also played several sports until my high school years. At first I didn’t love the game until I was in middle school. I played against competition that I could not compete against and it drove me to get better. I worked every day on baseball. I always was the worst player on my team until sixth grade which is the reason I worked every day to get to where I am.”
He added, “my goal is to go out and compete and have fun. It’s my last year in high school will be so memorable so I want to go out and make the most of it. The great talent that has come through Huntley through the past years is not only from the players but the coaching staff that pushes us to get better every day.”
The brothers group includes three of the many seniors who will go onto college baseball as Ryan Bakes will head to South Carolina as a commit; Brayden Bakes chose Indiana University and Dillon Putty opted for McHenry County College.
FVC leaders
Huntley stood at 16-4 overall after 20 games and 9-3 in Fox Valley Conference. They were tied for first place in league standings with Cary-Grove after splitting two games with the Trojans. Area rankings by MaxPreps put them at fifth in Claas 4A, fourth in Chicago and sixth in Illinois.
