Mundelein musters up another winning group

Mundelein has already won six North Suburban Conference Lake Division titles since 2000, and seems to be well on its way to another.

The Mustangs are 6-0 in division play, and every other team in the division has at least three losses.

Interestingly, Mundelein has put together winning teams in all different kinds of ways.

The Mustangs (18-5) have had some of the most dominating players in the conference in the past. This year, they have a roster full of solid players who consistently get the job done.

"It's not so bad to have that one guy in your lineup who you know will always step up and have a great at-bat for you and make something happen," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said with a laugh. "But I think it's probably better to be consistent up and down your lineup.

"It seems like we have a different guy each day getting the job done."

Parola doubts that any of his players are hitting .400 or better. But he's got a lot of guys in the mid- to upper-.300s who have a knack for timely hits.

Sam Osisek, Luke Peterson, Zack Zagula, Nick Stricker, Carter Naughton and Reese Dolan have all come up with big hits lately, especially in Mundelein's Lake Division wins over Warren, Lake Forest and Zion-Benton.

"We're a scrappy group," Parola said. "We don't have guys who are tearing it up all the time. We just try to be smart and limit our strikeouts."

Parola said it also helps that the Mustangs' pitching has been solid, thanks to top pitchers Brendan Murphy and Nick Brune.

"When our pitchers are pitching well, it seems like our defense also picks it up," Parola said.

Senior stability:

There is certainly a young vibe on the Antioch pitching staff.

Three of the team's top four pitchers are sophomores, including Connor Kaiser, Michael Mentone and Ben Gutke.

But senior Justin Stender is the team's ace and has been performing like a savvy veteran so far this season. He's got three wins and gets all the tough starts.

"Justin has been a great example to our young guys," Antioch coach Paul Petty said. "He works so hard and he does all the important little things that a good pitcher does, like band work. He's great at taking care of his arm and the other guys see that."

Stender's work ethic and attention to detail was honed during the off-season. He was anxious to produce different results after a 1-6 mark on the mound last year.

"He really works at his craft," Petty said of Stender. "He just keeps working. He hit the ground running when he started this season. He was just ready to go. I think he knew we were going to have a very young pitching staff and he knew that we needed him to step up. I think that motivated him."