Grayslake Central comes back to top Wauconda
Grayslake Central never gave up Saturday, and the reward was a dramatic 7-6 victory over Wauconda.
The host Rams fought off a 4-0 deficit and then ultimately overcame a 7-4 deficit by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Matt Loeffl came up with the winning hit when he ripped a bases-loaded, one-out single to plate Jay Hoffman, who had earlier doubled.
“Great comeback win and I’m very proud of the boys,” said Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen, whose team moves to 21-12 on the season.
Senior Justin Allen had a day to remember at the plate, going 4-4 with 4 singles. Ryan Fontana added a double and 3 RBI and Loeffl finished with a pair of hits.
“We’ve swung the bats well the last few games and we will need to carry that through if we want to make a postseason run,” Whalen said. “This group continues to work hard and the fact that this was our fourth victory coming in our final at-bat says something about the resiliency in these kids.”
Ryan Dones, the Rams’ third pitcher of the day, tossed the final two innings to pick up his third win of the season.
Mundelein 9, Highland Park 2: Mundelein moved to 28-4 on the season with its nonconference victory. Michael Metz, Will Farmer and Ryan Dolan all went 2-for-4 at the plate while Eric Davis got the win on the mound.
Warren 6, Deerfield 0: Conner Iwema was 3-for-4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored as the Blue Devils notched the shutout. Dom Cuevas added a double and 3 RBI while pitcher Jake Falish got the win and reliever Ryan Davila pitched 4 innings in relief.
Lake Zurich 3, Evanston 1: The Bears struggled early in the season but will be entering the state playoffs on a hot streak having won four games in a row. Winning pitcher Mike Mulder gave up only 1 hit and did not allow a walk. Junior Dan Neises not only led the offense with 2 hits, but he made two game-saving plays on defense at second base. Lake Zurich is now 14-16 on the season.
Grant 10, Hononegah 7: Grant scored 5 runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull away for the win. Jake Ring went 3-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBI. Tyler Gorski and Will Zitkus each had 2 hits. Both of Gorski’s hits were doubles and he also drove in 3 runs. Winning pitcher Jacob Trumpis moved to 4-3 on the mound.
Grayslake North 8, Maine East 2: Grayslake North got out to a 6-0 lead through three innings en route to the nonconference win. Winning pitcher Adam Gomski upped his record to 5-2 on the mound as the Knights improved to 19-8 overall. Offensively, Carl Russell had 3 hits, including a double while Nick Carmody and Andrew Mikusa each added 2 hits. Carmody also had a double, in addition to 3 RBI.