Nozicka's clutch efforts help Grayslake Central past Richmond-Burton

Senior catcher and Memphis-recruit Sam Nozicka led off the bottom of the first with a home run and threw out a would-be base stealer in the top of the seventh inning, helping preserve a 2-1 win for Grayslake Central over Richmond-Burton in a nonconference baseball game Tuesday.

Junior Justin Shepley matched Richmond-Burton starter and Louisville-recruit Jake Roser pitch for pitch, allowing 1 unearned run over 5 innings while striking out 6 batters and walking none. Senior lefty Griff Edwards tossed 2 scoreless innings to pick up the win.

Grayslake Central (5-1) broke a 1-1 tie when Benton Throehler scored on an error on a ball hit by Ryan Casper. Ryan Mikes had a pair of hits, and Sam Ruhlman and Ben Fitzgerald each collected hits as well.

Grayslake North 4, Vernon Hills 3: In Coach Brett Hill's return to Vernon Hills, his Knights rose to the occasion in a tightly contested nonconference game.

Grayslake North struck first as leadoff man Bobby Krebs started the game with the first of his 2 doubles and was sacrificed to third base. Vernon Hills starter Brad Larsen walked the next two batters, hit a batter and issued another walk. But due to a pickoff and a strikeout with bases loaded, the Cougars allowed only 1 run.

The Knights added a run in the fourth on Krebs' RBI double. Vernon Hills pulled even in the bottom of the inning on Matt Gramins' run-scoring single and Steven Tow's RBI double.

Grayslake North responded in the top of the sixth on Vince Gawerecki's RBI single. Devin Gaines then executed a squeeze bunt to score Alex Carrillo. An inning-ending double play prevented further damage.

Vernon Hills got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, as Tommy Earhart singled home Brett Paszko.

Brendan Taskovic shut down Vernon Hills in the bottom of the seventh.

Wauconda 4, Crystal Lake Central 3: Trevor Sefcik hit a two-run homer in a four-run first inning and pitched a scoreless seventh for the save, as the Bulldogs won the nonconference game.

Brian McFarlin was 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI for Wauconda, which also got a double from Collin Shrader. Sefcik finished 2-for-3. Drake Berman earned the win, allowing 3 runs in 4 innings, striking out seven.

Warren 9, Notre Dame 0: Ryan Davila pitched 5 innings in earning the win, striking out seven and allowing only 2 hits, and Sam LaMotte earned the save.

Davila also doubled, while Arkansas-bound Matt Burch homered and knocked in three for Warren (5-1). Bob Archbold was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI for the Blue Devils and Matt Temaner went for 2-for-3.

Prairie Ridge 8, Lakes 5: The Eagles scored 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut into a 7-0 deficit, but their rally came up short in the nonconference game.

Brandon Khan (2-for-3, double, walk) and Ryan Selig (2-for-4, run) led way offensively for Lakes (1-3). Matt Milewski (1-for-4, run) and Max Swiatek (1-for-4) each drove in a pair of runs for the Eagles.

Lake Zurich splits: In St. Louis, the Bears dropped a 5-3 decision to Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, before capturing a 14-5 decision over the St. Louis Pirates.

Lake Zurich had just 2 hits against MICDS, which scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to snap a 3-3 tie. Nick Sanders tripled for the Bears, who got RBI from Tyler Snep and Ben Corneliuis.

Lake Zurich scored in each of the first six innings against the St. Louis Pirates. Snep doubled twice and knocked in a 2 runs. Sanders and Austin Wells also had 2 RBI each.

Boardman 3, Stevenson 2: On Monday, at Vero Beach, Fla., Henry Marchese's solo home run accounted for the Patriots' lone hit in their loss to the opponent from Youngstown, Ohio.

Patrick Loeffler drove in Stevenson's other run in the first. The Patriots took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on Marchese's homer, but Boardman responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning.