Baseball: Lake County notes

With a size 16 shoe and a 6-foot-4 frame, Brendan Murphy has the specs of a basketball player.

Perhaps that's what throws hitters off about him.

Murphy has been a gem so far this season.

Just a sophomore, the Mundelein pitcher is 4-0 on the mound and has taken over the role of ace for the Mustangs, one of the top teams in the state at 12-4. He is the youngest player in the No. 1 spot for Mundelein in the 21-year career of head coach Todd Parola.

"We had a feeling after last year from watching him pitch on the freshman team that Brendan would be able to contribute for us this year," Parola said. "But it's been a nice surprise just how much. He's made a big jump from last year, especially physically. He's really grown significantly and gotten a lot stronger. And he's still growing."

Murphy's mental toughness might not need much more development. Parola says Murphy is unlike most pitchers his age.

"He's very poised for his age," Parola said. "When things go against him, he's able to keep his poise. It's what sets him apart from a lot of sophomores. His poise on the mound makes him seem more like a senior.

"And I just like the way he pitches. He mixes his speeds well, and he attacks the zone. If he misses, it's not by much. He's got a really good strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has a really bright future."

Veterans days:

After a 36-win season in which most of the starters were seniors, Mundelein coach Todd Parola was worried about his lack of experience and leadership prior to this season.

But some of the players who were role players last year, or those who rarely saw the field, seem to be making up for lost time.

Seniors Luke Peterson, Wes Farmer, Nick Brune, Sam Osisek and junior Reese Dolan have taken charge of the Mustangs and have gotten them off to another solid start. They were 12-4 after sweeping Warren in their first North Suburban Conference Lake Division series on Wednesday.

"All five of those guys have done a nice job," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. "They are leading us on offense, on defense. We lost a lot of guys from last year and we needed guys like this to be key players for us."

Masked man:

It might not be the most comfortable or the most stylish piece of equipment, but the mask that sits on the face of Justin Guryn is very necessary.

The Grayslake Central senior suffered quite a scare over Spring Break in Florida when he was hit in the head by a line drive during a drill in practice.

The ball fractured a couple of small bones in Guryn's cheek.

Between recovering from that, and then contracting bronchitis shortly thereafter, Guryn, one of two pitchers who could be considered the Rams' ace, has pitched only about six innings so far this season.

"When he got hit by that line drive, it knocked Justin off his feet," Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen said. "And it hit right off his right eye. We rushed out there. I was worried. It could have been a lot worse. They took him to the ER right away, and he saw an eye doctor. He took a week off, but he's lucky that it wasn't more serious and that he can pitch again so soon with the mask."

Since returning from Florida, Guryn was forced to take time to recover from both the hit and his bronchitis. He has since pitched three innings in the last week on a pitch count against Huntley.

"We just wanted to slowly work him back in," Whalen said. "You hate this for a senior. But we want to take it slow. He looks good, though. The ball is coming out of his hand well and his velocity is good. We're just taking it slow so that we can get him used to the mask and back in shape."

Guryn will be required to wear the mask at least another month.

"It's kind of like the mask that softball players wear," Whalen said. "He's trying to get used to it, and it's not easy. But if any kid can get hit in the face and make the best of it and not be fazed by it, it's Justin. He's just that kind of kid."

Pink haze:

As if the major blow to the head of pitcher Justin Guryn wasn't a big enough scare for Grayslake Central down in Florida, there was so much more to the team's health report.

Six players got pink eye on the trip.

And three players were dealing with concussions.

"We have been so fortunate over the years with injuries, almost to the point that we were injury-free," Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen said. "But I've seen more baseball players in the training room this season than I have in the last five years.

"It's just all coming at once. But I guess it's kind of like, 'Next man up. Let's go.' You hate to see injuries create opportunities for others, but that's exactly what happens."

Offensively, Whalen says that Jay Hoffman and Sam Nozicka have stepped up. Like last year, Hoffman is hitting around .400, and Nozicka, the starting catcher, is hitting well in the No. 3 spot.

On the mound, David Llorens, who could be considered an ace along with Guryn, is off to a good start and is getting help from Sam Ruhlmann, Griff Edwards, Ethan LaBeck and Brett Whalen.

"We didn't want to overthrow David with Justin out, so we had to go to a lot of inexperienced guys," Whalen said. "We threw some of them into the fire a lot sooner than expected. But we're hoping that helps them in the long run."

Doing the Math:

Chris Mathieu is almost too diverse for his own good.

The Warren senior is the fastest player on his team. He also happens to be one of the best hitters. So he's created a lineup dilemma for his coaches. Where should Mathieu bat, lead-off, which is where the fastest players typically go, or further down in the lineup, which is where the top hitters go to drive in runs?

"That's the thing about Chris, he really could hit well anywhere in the top five spots," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "It's hard, because when your fastest kid is also your leading hitter, it's hard to put him at lead-off, because you want him getting those RBIs."

Lately, Mathieu has been hitting in the 5-spot, and he's been doing his job driving in runs for the Blue Devils, who are 10-6 on the season. He was hitting close to .500 entering games this week.

Hill on the hill:

Being the ace isn't always what it's cracked up to be.

That's because when one team's ace is on the mound, often, the other team's ace is on the mound, too. And that means that runs are often tough to come by for both teams.

And that means that an ace can pitch a gem of a game, and still get a loss.

Aces also typically draw the toughest teams for their assignments. That also makes getting wins tough.

Warren senior Andrew Hill has found himself in such a predicament to start the season. Almost a month in and the Bradley-bound pitcher is still looking for his first win.

"Our schedule is really tough this year and Andrew is throwing against our toughest opponents," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "He's thrown some great games for us, but I remember two games against top teams early in the season and we just couldn't get runs for him. We lost those, 1-0 and 1-0.

"He's also throwing against everyone's No. 1. It's been tough, but he's been really competitive. He'll get there."

Payoff time:

The growing pains that Wauconda experienced last year with three sophomores on the roster are feeling more and more like a distant memory.

Pitcher Kevin Malisheski, shortstop Jake Grobelny and second baseman Collin Shrader are still young. But the juniors are benefitting from a full season of varsity baseball under their belts.

"It was definitely beneficial," said Wauconda coach Bill Sliker, whose team has started the season 5-5. "They got really good experience last year and that's going to help them this year and next year. They have helped to make our practices really competitive and that helps keep everyone working hard.