It looks like a win for Mundelein
The hoodie is Warren blue and the entire uniform, from cap to baseball pants, reinforces that Clay Kovac, strangely, is a Blue Devil.
Yet there was the former Mundelein star ballplayer and pitching coach talking to a Mustangs pitcher Wednesday following Mundelein's 4-2 win over visiting Warren. Kovac was giving constructive criticism to senior Nick Brune and telling him how proud he was of the recent Illinois Wesleyan commit.
"I've pitched for his summer team (Kenosha Indians) and definitely have thrown a lot of bullpens with him," Brune said of Kovac, Warren's first-year pitching coach, who was participating in a ballgame at Mundelein for the first time as a visitor.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing him in blue, that's for sure," Mustangs coach Todd Parola said with a laugh.
Brune pitched 5 innings for the win in the North Suburban Lake Division contest, allowing 4 hits and 1 run. He struck out a pair, walked three and hit two. He got defensive help from third baseman Luke Peterson, who dived to his left to record a groundball out in the third and triggered a 5-4-3 double play in the fifth. With Mundelein protecting a 3-1 lead in the Warren fourth, center fielder Sam Osisek slid to his knees to spear Brad Zahn's hard-hit ball with two out and the bases loaded.
"The defense was huge because my curveball wasn't there, so I just started throwing sinkers low and in, trying to get them to pound groundballs," Brune said. "Luke Peterson made some great plays for me."
Warren (10-6, 2-2) threatened in the seventh against reliever Jake Breitenreiter, as Zahn led off with the Blue Devils' fourth double and scored on a groundball by Matt Burch (1-for-3, RBI). A single by Michael Rosenberg (2-for-3) and error put runners on first and second with one out, but Breitenreiter got a called-third strike and tap back to the mound to end it.
"He's been coming in (to pitch) in those spots for us and has just been an iceman," Brune said of the junior Breitenreiter, who earned a two-inning save. "Nothing gets to him. We need that (type of) guy."
Mundelein (12-4, 2-0) plated 3 runs in the second after Warren scored the game's first run in the top of the inning on Sean Hannigan's sacrifice fly. The Mustangs' Zach Zagula (3-for-3) led off against Bradley-bound Andrew Hill with a double. Hill hit back-to-back batters to load the bases with one out. Ninth-place hitter Carter Naughton then drove a ball to deep left field. Naughton stopped at second with a double, but Mundelein scored only one run on the play as shortstop Burch's relay throw to home cut down Cooper Michalski.
"That was clutch," Osisek said of Naughton's hit.
Following a Wes Farmer walk, Osisek came through too, singling in 2 runs to make it 3-1.
"We were just looking to see the fastball and adjust to any off-speed (pitches)," Osisek said of the Mustangs' approach against Hill. "We knew he had a good curveball and good changeup. We were focused on getting the (front) foot down and working up the middle."
Hill left the game after four innings. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound righty allowed 4 hits and 3 runs, walking three, hitting three and striking out four.
"Early in counts, I wasn't getting ahead with the fastball too often," Hill said. "I just wasn't trusting the curveball. I was almost babying it. It wasn't my best curveball. The changeup was a little bit 'on' but I'm not throwing that too often."
"He's one of the better kids in the area," Parola said of Hill. "I thought we had some pretty good at-bats against him."
A single by Zagula and double by Reese Dolan led to Michalski's fifth-inning sacrifice fly that hiked Mundelein's lead to 4-1.
Rosenberg, Hill and Ben Perner also doubled for Warren, which lost to Mundelein 5-1 on Tuesday, giving up 3 first-inning runs.
"Our kids aren't quitting," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "They're getting better every day. People are sticking around for extra work and stuff like that. We played one of the top-20 teams in the state. Well-coached. We got to take our hat off. They made some great plays. If we get some of those balls to drop, it's a different story."