Lees, Kimpler help Libertyville blitz Lake Zurich
Even without pads, in football weather, Riley Lees showed he can still pad a lead.
And while he provided offense, fellow Libertyville junior Ben Kimpler stymied the opposing offense.
Sound familiar?
The duo did likewise last fall in helping lead the Wildcats to the Class 7A football state semifinals.
On a chilly Wednesday at Lake Zurich, Lees cracked a grand slam and Kimpler pitched 5 innings of 3-hit baseball, as Libertyville avenged a shutout loss a day earlier by winning 8-0 in North Suburban Lake Division action.
Powered by Lees and Kimpler, Libertyville improved to 9-7 and 2-4 in the NSC Lake.
"It's the same thing (as in football)," Lees, the all-area quarterback and recent Miami (Ohio) commit, acknowledged with a laugh.
Kimpler, the all-area defensive end, was making just his second pitching start of the season after Wildcats coach Jim Schurr elected to give several seniors starts on the mound early in the season. Kimpler was closing before throwing 6⅓ scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts against Wauconda last Friday.
"I felt good out there," Kimpler said after improving to 2-0. "Coming off the last outing I had, everything was just clicking. I'm pitching with a lot more confidence."
The 6-foot-6, 210-pounder, who's received a football scholarship offer from Toledo, struck out three and issued 3 of his 5 walks in his final inning. Controlling the fastball was the key, he said. He was nearing 100 pitches by the end of the fifth inning.
"In the past, our pitchers have been struggling by trying to do everything themselves," Kimpler said. "I know my strikeout count wasn't a lot. I just tried to have (Lake Zurich) put the ball in play. I know that I got outstanding defense behind me to do their job as well."
Schurr knows Kimpler is capable of turning in more of the same performances.
"When he starts throwing downhill and gets that downhill trajectory, it's hard to hit a baseball," Schurr said. "That's what we've been trying to get him to do, and pitch with confidence. He's done that now for two outings, and he's had good feel with his secondary pitch. His curveball was good today."
Ryan Jackson's line-drive homer over the fence in right field off Bears starter Tyler Peterson staked Kimpler to a 1-0 lead in the second. Jimmy Govern's RBI double in the third made it 2-0. Walks to Ben Manski (1-for-4) and Chase Patterson sandwiched a bloop single by Sean Ferraro (1-for-2), loading the bases for Lees with two out in the fourth.
Libertyville's leadoff hitter went the opposite way with Peterson's first pitch, depositing it over the fence in right field.
"I was just looking first-pitch fastball, and I got it," said Lees, who joked that it was his first grand slam since probably the fourth grade. "It was outside and I just took it where it was. It just went. It got in the wind. The wind helped a little bit."
Libertyville tacked on solo runs in the fifth (RBI single by Manski) and seventh (sacrifice fly by Nick Rossetti). Rossetti finished up on the mound with 2 innings (1 strikeout, 2 hits). Nick Neumann added a double for the Wildcats.
Lake Zurich (9-12, 3-3) had won six in a row. Coach Chuck Gandolfi counted seven balls, including several in foul territory, that he thought his Bears should have caught. Trevor Staley (double) had Lake Zurich's only extra-base hit.
"It's disappointing to see us not be more aggressive offensively and defensively," Gandolfi said. "It felt like we were the only ones who were cold out here. It's cold, no doubt about it. But we've been playing in cold all year."