Parola savors win No. 400
An appreciative Todd Parola accepted the game ball from Lake Forest coach Ray Del Fava, rubbing and spinning it with two hands like ballplayers do, and admired it.
Parola cracked a small smile.
Credit, however, Mundelein’s modest coach wouldn’t accept.
A celebratory ride on the shoulders of his exuberant players, Parola wanted no part of that, either.
“Get on the bus,” an embarrassed but grinning Parola said to his players after they ambushed and then hoisted him following Mundelein’s 12-5 win over host Lake Forest on Wednesday.
The victory was the 400th of Parola’s career and 13th without a loss this season (4-0 North Suburban Lake Division).
“To be honest, it’s almost a little embarrassing,” Parola, Mundelein’s head coach since the 1995 campaign, said of his milestone win. “Jeff Sweno handles the hitters, Clay Kovac handles the pitchers, and ‘Mac’ (Neil McLoughlin) handles the defense. I don’t really do a whole lot.”
The 1984 graduate of Grayslake has done plenty in his baseball life. He played Big Ten baseball for Indiana University but insists that was so long ago that he doesn’t even think in those terms.
“You think about all the kids you coached — all the great players, all the great kids,” Parola said. “I’m very fortunate to be at Mundelein. Every year, almost every group enjoys being challenged. I couldn’t coach at a lot of places. There’s a lot of places I don’t think would work for me. I think Mundelein’s a special place because the kids are hard-nosed, they want to work hard and they’re not afraid to work hard. It’s been a good fit for me.”
His 2011 Mustangs might be as good as any of his past teams, including the three that won a combined 94 games between 2000-2002. The ’02 squad, which included Kovac, placed fourth at state.
Against Lake Forest (4-6, 0-2), the hard-hitting Mustangs pounded out 16 hits. Cleanup-hitting Luis Carrasco led the way again, going 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI. Mundelein’s other offensive contributors included Charlie Gandolfi (2-for-3, 2 walks, RBI, stolen base), Austin Ozog (1-for-3, RBI, stolen base), Chris Maranto (2-for-3, 2 walks), Nik Gastfield (RBI double, walk, hit by pitch), Bill McMahon (RBI single), Bryan Wiener (2-for-4), Jordan Wiegold (single, 2 RBI) and D.J. Lewis (2-for-4).
“Everyone can hit,” said Gandolfi, the Mustangs’ leadoff hitter. “Even some people that aren’t in the lineup right now have been hitting the ball well too. It’s good to have confidence in a lot of hitters.”
Dante Martinez pitched 4 innings to earn the win. Matt Lawrence had half of Lake Forest’s 4 hits, going 2-for-3 with a double and 4 RBI.
Matt Langlie pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, and then Mundelein celebrated another win for its coach.
“He likes to win and he always puts a tough nine people out there,” Gandolfi said of Parola. “We’re a scrappy team, and we’ll do whatever it takes to win games.”