STERLING – DeKalb’s losing streak continues, but there are glimmers of hope toward ending it.
The Barbs couldn’t stop their losing ways Friday at Sterling, but they played much better this time around in a 7-6 loss than the outcome they suffered Tuesday.
The Barbs (3-20) put the ugly aberration of an 16-run inning Tuesday against the Golden Warriors behind them. They have now lost nine straight an were outscored 45-9 in their three games prior into Friday. They came back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game at six after a two-RBI single by John Brei in the sixth inning, but Reilly Hay’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly gave the Golden Warriors (18-6) the win.
Barbs coach Dedric Wright didn’t see any quit in his team.
“One of the biggest things coming into this game is that we just have to start competing,” Wright said. “We still need to clean up some things defensively. Down 5-1 there, most games we’d probably give up and pack it up for the next game.”
Brei’s big hit made up for a tough-luck outing on the mound. He allowed five hits in five-plus innings, with all but one of the six runs allowed unearned. He was pulled for Bryce Wheeler after facing two batters in the sixth inning; Wheeler gave up Hay’s sac fly.
“Considering they had beat us 18-1, to come back and fight like that really proves the point that it was just an off-game,” Brei said. “We’re a lot better team than I guess people think we are.
“We had a lot of positive energy,” Brei added. “We were talking about how we can change things to try to win games and come back. I think that’s what did it for us. We came back and didn’t give up this time.”
Sterling scored three runs in the second inning, and Matt Searls’ RBI single put DeKalb on the board in the third. The Golden Warriors came back with two more runs in their half of the third, and Jacob Garland added an RBI single in the fourth inning to make it a 5-2 game.
Hay put Sterling up 6-3 with an RBI single in their half of the fourth, and after both teams traded one-two-three innings in the fifth, the Barbs put together their comeback.
All four of the Barbs’ runs came with two out. Garland hit an RBI double, and that was the first of five straight hits off Sterling pitcher Tyler Willman; Searls added his second RBI in that stretch, and Brei tied the game with his two-RBI single.
Dylan Bryant relieved Willman after the fifth consecutive Barbs hit of the inning, and ended it by getting Charles Roberts to ground into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.
Bryant retired three of four batters in the seventh to pick up the win.
“They really showed up today,” Hay said of the Barbs. “We really played the real team today. Tuesday when we played them, I think they were just out of it, and made a lot of errors.”
The Barbs take on Coal City in a 10 a.m. home game Saturday.
“The effort was a lot better overall than what we had in previous games,” Wright said.