Prospect's Karz warms to collegiate baseball future

Prospect senior Lucas Karz has already thought about his first winter in college.

"I won't need to shovel the driveway in the winter," he said with a smile.

Instead, he will probably be gripping a baseball bat during those months.

That's because Karz, thanks to his baseball skills, will be attending Presbyterian College in South Carolina.

He recently made a verbal commitment to play for the Blue Hose.

"The school is great,"' Karz said. "The classes are small and the campus has a lot of southern character."

Karz was part of the Prospect summer team which showed plenty of character last July making it to the finals of the state summer tournament. He also played a key factor last spring when the Knights contended for the Mid-Suburban East title.

"Right now, I'm looking forward to Prospect Knights baseball," Karz said. "We made that run to the summer high school playoff semifinals and with the senior team we have, the sky is the limit in the spring."

Presbyterian obviously hopes there is no limit on Karz' potential on the baseball diamond.

The coach at Presbyterian College saw Karz play in a baseball showcase out east and offered him an official visit to the school.

"Most of my travel baseball has been played in the south and I loved it there," Karz said. "Elton Pollock (Presbyterian baseball coach) and his assistant Mark Crocco impressed me with their character and knowledge of the game."

In addition to a demanding Big South Conference schedule, Presbyterian also plays South Carolina, Georgia, Clemson and Auburn in nonconference games.

"I'm really looking forward to that level of competition," Karz said.

Karz began competing in t-ball in the Mt. Prospect Park District.

"My dad always played catch with me and got me interested in playing ball," Karz said. "My real enthusiasm for the game grew when I played travel baseball for the Northside Warriors."

He went on to play first base with the Knights under coach Ross Giusti and travel ball with the Cangelosi BlackSox under coach Tyler Thompson.

"We are all very happy for Luke getting this opportunity to play ball at the next level," Giusti said. "He's going to a terrific school and he has done nothing but work hard to improve his game and put himself in this situation which is great for him and his family."

Palatine Hall of Fame

Donna O'Brien (diving coach), Kyle Sorensen (swimmer) and Daniel Wimer (swimmer) are the most recent inductees to the Palatine High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

O'Brien coached 29 years at Palatine, overseeing 40 divers who qualified for state. Sorensen was one of the most decorated sprinters at Palatine and a six-time sectional champ. Wimer was an eight-time state finalist and top water polo competitor, too.

More in-depth profiles on each of the three will appear in upcoming Sports Notes.

Also inducted were the Pirates girls cross country teams from 1989 to 1996. During those years. they won six state titles and finished second twice. They were led by coaches Steve Currins, Pat Gleason, Chailee Gleason and Chris Norton.

Women's golf

North Central sophomore Paige Candra (Palatine) competed in six events at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship with a 95.3 stroke average. She placed 28th and recorded a season-best score of 88 in the first round. The Cardinals placed third in the tourney.

Football

Augustana junior quarterback Sam Frasco (Prospect) rushed for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 31-26 win at Carthage.

On the year, Frasco leads the Vikings with 526 yards and 9 touchdowns on 116 rushing attempts

Carthage quarterback Nick Anzelmo (Schaumburg) completed 24-of-56 passes for 256 yards and 2 touchdowns in the game.

• Austin Peay State University freshman quarterback Mickey Macius, a native of Arlington Heights, was named Ohio Valley Conference Co-Newcomer of the Week after helping lead Austin Peay State University to a 20-13 victory against Murray State.

It ended the Football Championship Subdivision's longest-active losing streak at 18 games.

Macius shared the award with Eastern Illinois quarterback Jalen Whitlow.

Macius, making only his second career start, completed 18-of-22 passes for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Governors won their first game since Nov. 17, 2012.

His 81.8 completion percentage marked the first time an APSU quarterback had been above 80 percent since the 2003 season when the Govs were playing non-scholarship football.

Men's soccer

Kentucky sophomore midfielder Matthew Quick (Hersey) is a key member of one of the top three defensive units in the nation.

Only Syracuse has allowed fewer goals than the Wildcats, who have defeated three top 20 teams this season, including Notre Dame, which was ranked No. 1 at the time.

Quick has started every game, played over 1,400 minutes and has 2 assists.

• Oakton freshman forward Nelson Herrera (Maine West) was selected to the NJCAA Region IV First Team.

Named to the second team was freshman defender Ramon Contreras (Maine West) and freshman forward Alex Herrera (Maine West).

All three were Skyway Conference first team all-conference selections while sophomore defender Joshua DeLeon was named to the second team.

Girls basketball

Tryouts at Buffalo Grove High School for the Buffalo Grove Girls Feeder Basketball Program will be Tuesday Oct 28 and Thursday, Oct 30 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for fifth through eighth grade girls. For registration please visit: http://www.eteamz.com/bghsgirlsfeederbasketball/

For questions or more information, please email: bggirlsfeederbball@gmail.com.

• Rolling Meadows Girls Basketball will be hosting a free coaching clinic for area feeder, park district, and junior high coaches. The clinic will be on Sunday, November 2, from 9-10:30 a.m. The clinic will include on-court demonstrations of drills used by the Rolling Meadows Girls Basketball program. To register, contact head coach Ryan Kirkorsky at ryan.kirkorsky@d214.org.

Rugby

Five Arlington Stallions - seniors Dave Woloch (Prospect) and Zach Lingen (Hersey), junior Colin Farmer (Notre Dame) and sophomores Joe Fasolo (Hersey) and Alex Gountanis (Prospect) - will play in the inaugural match featuring Illinois players against Missouri all-staters on Saturday.

"This is a high honor and great opportunity," said Stallions president Vinnie Lapiana. "These boys worked very hard this fall to improve their level of play and the opportunity to play on this fall's all-state side is well deserved on all of their parts. The Missouri side will give them a great challenge to end their season."

The match will be held in conjunction with the landmark match between the World Champion New Zealand All-Blacks and the USA National team (the Eagles) at Soldier Field on the same day. For more information, visit www.usarugby.org.

Women's soccer

Lewis junior Maggie Moran (Rolling Meadows) stole the show on Senior Night with a goal and 2 assists to help the Flyers defeat Saint Joseph 3-0 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Lewis Stadium.

The win extended Lewis' unbeaten streak to three games and puts the Flyers (4-6-5, 4-5-4) in a tie for the eighth and final spot in the GLVC Tournament.

• Please email Sports Notes items to jleusch@dailyherald.com.