Fernandez pitches Grant past Round Lake

A leadoff walk led to a brisk walk by Dave Behm.

Grant's baseball coach popped out of his dugout and hustled to the mound, telling catcher Ethan Unger to stay behind the plate. Behm wanted to have a one-on-one visit with his promising sophomore lefty Sam Fernandez, who was working with an 11-run lead in the bottom of the fifth at Round Lake.

"I just told him he needs to stay back," Behm said. "He was running off the mound, practically. I told him, 'Don't make me come back out to the mound and talk to you again.' "

The next time Behm talked to his pitcher, he was congratulating him on a complete-game victory, as Grant captured a five-inning, 13-3 decision in the North Suburban Prairie Division opener Wednesday for both the Bulldogs and Panthers.

Grant, which got 2 hits apiece from the top two guys in its batting order, Matt Mason (2 stolen bases) and Spencer Lhotka, improved to 8-2. Nick Heidenthal and Sean Lane (RBI) ripped doubles, Eddie Kusiak had a pair of RBI groundouts, and Scott Porten delivered a 2-run single.

"They do the little things. That's what I like about them," Behm said of his players. "We've played good defense. We've pitched the ball well. It's nothing that's necessarily flashy, but it's effective. We learn from our mistakes. Which is huge."

Round Lake fell to 1-6, committing 5 errors, walking five batters, hitting two and collecting just 3 hits off Fernandez.

"We need to throw more strikes and just play good defense behind (the pitchers)," Panthers coach Ed Adamson said. "Especially on cold days like this, it's not easy to hit. So if you can throw strikes and make plays, at least you'll be in the game."

Fernandez (2-0) was making his third varsity start. He beat Rockton Hononegah for his first win.

"Real good off-speed, curveball, changeup," Behm said. "He throws pretty well."

Grant scored 5 runs in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate, to hike the Bulldogs' lead to 12-0. Fernandez then walked two batters in the bottom of the inning and saw his shutout bid end when Marco Herrera stroked a two-out, 2-run single.

Fernandez wound up striking out the side, and he finished the game with 9 strikeouts.

"My curveball was working for me," Fernandez said. "My fastball was a little rough, but my changeup was good too."

Fernandez issued his fourth walk, to pinch hitter Austin Disch, leading off the Round Lake fifth. After Behm visited the mound, Fernandez retired the next two hitters, before hard-hitting Tyler Sanchez (1-for-1, 2 walks) smoked an RBI triple. Fernandez got the next batter to make sure the game didn't extend to the sixth inning.

He acknowledged he thought his coach might make another visit.

"A little bit, yeah," Fernandez said with a smile. "But I just threw strikes and got us out of the inning."

Round Lake starter Spencer Daniels pitched 3⅔ innings, allowing 7 hits.

"He's got some really good movement," Adamson said of the junior right-hander. "We're just working on controlling that now."