Pitching variety suits Lakes

So far, so good.

Lakes coach Ray Gialo thinks he's found a winning formula for North Suburban Conference Prairie Division games.

The Eagles have started the season 2-0 in division play, getting two wins this week over Vernon Hills on back-to-back days.

Gialo thinks the scheduling format of back-to-back games could be an advantage for his team, particularly for his top two pitchers, who will likely be pitching most of the division games.

"Chase Slota and Jeremy Mackey are both really good pitchers but they're also really different," Gialo said. "I like pitching them back-to-back against the same team because it's like…just when you get used to one way, we come back the next day with a guy who is going to give hitters a totally different look.

"Chase is a big power arm. He was pitching in the upper 80s against Vernon Hills on Tuesday. Then, we came back with Jeremy on Wednesday. He's a soft-throwing lefty who keeps people off balance. I think Vernon Hills had a tough time adjusting to that."

Slota (2-0), who is getting some attention from major league scouts, and Mackey (2-1) have all four of Lakes' wins between them. After starting out slow, Lakes has won three straight games to improve to 4-4-1.

Error of their ways:

Part of the reason Lakes got off to a slow start this season was errors.

"We were making 5, 6, 7 errors a game in each of our first few games," Lakes coach Ray Gialo said. "It was rough. We weren't even doing the basics well, like catching and throwing the ball. That's a pretty important part of the game not to be good at.

"We would just shoot ourselves in the foot and it seemed like it would always happen at crucial times. But we have finally started getting it together."

In their last three to four games, the Eagles have played near error-free baseball, finishing with no more than a single error in any of the games.

"We're starting to play some decent baseball," Gialo said.

Senior Matt Putman has been at the forefront of Lakes' transformation.

Normally a middle infielder, Putman was shifted over to third base to help fill a void. But he struggled at times there and was taken out of the lineup for a few games while the Eagles continued to make more position changes.

"Matt just didn't have a lot of confidence at third because he really didn't have a lot of experience there. He made a few errors," Gialo said. "But then we moved him back to second base and shortstop and he's done very well there.

"His hitting has also really picked up. He's gotten 7 hits and drove in 9 runs for us over the last three games."

Walking man:

Word is out already on Cooper Johnson.

Through eight games, the Carmel junior already has 4 doubles, a triple and 2 home runs. He's also hitting around .500.

"Everybody wants to pitch around him, walk him," Carmel coach Dann Giesey said. "It's really hard to get young hitters to understand how to deal with that because it can be (frustrating). I mean, he's already on pace to have 25-plus walks.

"We're doing our best to make sure (opponents) can't pitch around him and when we can do that, Cooper is taking advantage. He's been on a tear, just really consistent for us."

A big zero:

Usually a zero in sports isn't so good.

But for a pitcher, a zero can be a really good thing, when it comes to his earned run average.

Carmel has two big zeros on its pitching staff.

Both Skylar Williams and Garrett McClellan boast 0.00 ERAs through eight games this season. They've pulled down Carmel's team earned run average to an impressive 1.40.

Williams, who actually finished last season with a 0.00 ERA, is currently 0-0 with a save while McClellan is 1-1.

"Both of them came right out of the gate strong, changing speeds, locating their fast ball. They've been able to keep hitters off balance," Carmel coach Dann Giesey said of Williams and McClellan. "They have pitched really well for us, and they're a big reason our pitching has been so strong this season. Pitching has been very consistent for us so far."

But will Williams and McClellan be able to maintain such remarkable consistency? Will there be pressure to maintain that perfect 0.00 ERA?

"I don't think so," Giesey said. "I think it's more of a fun internal competition for all of our kids. It's like, 'OK, you went out and had a great outing, now it's my turn.' It's like a staff challenge and they're having a great time trying to match each other. Their mindset is that they're going to take the ball out there and shut everyone down."

The Corsairs have been pretty good at shutting offenses down lately. Last year, their team ERA for the season was 1.98 and the year before that it was 2.11.

More practice, please:

The lumps were expected this season, especially early on.

With sophomores and freshmen sprinkled all over his lineup, Antioch coach Paul Petty knew there would be some growing pains. And there have been. The 4-5 Sequoits started 1-4 and have lost two games in extra innings already.

"That lack of experience is something that rears its ugly head in those close games," Petty said. "That experience, leadership and mental toughness is what gets you through those tough games."

Antioch starts four, sometimes five sophomores, and a freshman. Second base, shortstop and third base are all played by sophomores or the freshman.

"When we were 1-4 or 1-5, we were kind of in a tough spot because we were either playing games every day or the weather was canceling things, and we just weren't getting a lot of practice in," Petty said. "When you've got a young team like we do, you need practice. That's where you build your confidence.

"Then, we were able to get some really good practice in and then we went out in our next game and put up seven runs in the first inning. I think as long as we can keep getting some good practices in, this group will keep getting better and we'll be a much better team at the end of the season than we were at the beginning."

Young guns:

As inexperienced as Antioch is now, that's how bright the future looks.

The underclassmen who are starting for the Sequoits are already starting to show why they were brought up to the varsity in the first place.

Sophomore Ben Gutke is a utility standout, capable of playing in the infield, outfield or pitching. Sophomore Connor Geidner is solid in the infield while sophomores Connor Kaiser and Michael Mentone are turning into two of the team's best pitchers. And freshman John Petty is playing well at shortstop and is one of the leading hitters on the team.

"This is by far the youngest team I've ever had," said Antioch coach Paul Petty, now in his 24th season. "I think one year, I brought up two sophomores at the same time, but even that was rare.

"I feel like the Cubs right now. We're just going to have to weather the storm while these kids are young. We know that it's not going to all happen at once with them, but it will at some point and we're excited to see how they respond along the way."

Missing leader:

Antioch would have a lot more experience in the lineup if Colin Prather was healthy.

But the senior outfielder and varsity veteran is out to start the season because he is recovering from a chronic knee injury. He had his knee scoped over the off-season and is working in rehab to get himself back in shape.

"We hope to get him back soon," Antioch coach Paul Petty said of Prather. "He does his best off the field to come to practices and games and to be a good influence. But we need him on the field to give us his leadership there. We're really missing that."