Baseball: Murphy pitches Mundelein past Lake Zurich

Brendan Murphy struck out 14 and held visiting Lake Zurich to 2 hits as Mundelein topped the Bears 5-2 on Wednesday in a North Suburban Lake baseball matchup.

The game was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, when the Mustangs jumped ahead with a 2-run rally. They added another run in the sixth.

Nick Stricker finished 2-for-3 for Mundelein (20-7, 6-3), and Jeff Morton and Reese Dolan had doubles.

Lake Zurich fell to 3-6 in Lake play.

Libertyville 9, Zion-Benton 0: Riley Gowens pitched 6 innings of 2-hit ball and host Libertyville rallied for 5 runs in the sixth inning to break open the NSC Lake matchup. Brian Murphy and Ben Kimpler each drove in 1 run in the sixth, and Jackson Peterson had a 2-run single.

Ryan Greenberg and Trent Jean both had 2 hits for Libertyville, which improved to 17-9-1 overall and 6-3 against Lake Division foes. Zion-Benton remains winless in the division at 0-11.

Grant 7, Lakes 0: Bryan Libby tossed a complete game to help the host Bulldogs to an NSC Prairie victory.

Libby (5-1) struck out 7 and the run he allowed was unearned.

Ben Kusiak paced Grant, which improved to 4-5 in divisional play, by hitting a homer and finishing 3-for-4 with 2 singles and 3 RBI. Ethan Unger also had a pair of hits for the Bulldogs.

Lakes, which got a 2-for-3 plate effort from Max Swiatek, dropped to 10-14 overall and 5-6 against Prairie competition.

Lake Forest 9, Warren 0: Matt Burch had the only hit for the host Blue Devils (21-7, 5-4) in NSC Lake action.

Ryan Davila took the loss, but none of the 4 runs he allowed in 5⅔ innings was earned. He struck out five and walked one as Warren committed 7 errors.

Cal Coughlin struck out nine and walked one in a complete-game win for the Scouts, who improved to 6-4 in the Lake Division.

Stevenson 5, St. Viator 1: Five Patriots pitchers combined to limit host St. Viator to 1 hit - a single by Mike Ragauskis - in nonconference play.

Jack Cappalli and Jack Trotter doubled for the Patriots (19-7) and Henry Marchese drove in 2 runs.

Justin Kopech started and pitched 3 innings; he allowed the hit but no runs and earned the victory.

Logan Lavelle, Justin Stark and Bronson Litcher also saw action on the mound before Tyler Pauly got three outs to earn a save.

St. Viator slipped to 15-12 overall.

Vernon Hills sweeps: The host Cougars won the first matchup 14-0 and the second 11-0 in North Suburban Prairie play.

In Game 1, Joe Rangel, Sam Perlin and Connor McNamara combined for a 1-hit shutout, and Drew Winegarner and Matt Gramins had multiple-hit games for Vernon Hills (7-3 Prairie).

In the second game it was more of the same as Brad Larsen, Andrew Smith and Ryan Larsen combined on a 1-hitter, and Tony Brown and Chris Kahn had 2 hits apiece.

Wauconda 10, Round Lake 0 (5 inn.): The visiting Bulldogs remain unbeaten in NSC Prairie play, improving to 9-0 in the division.

Wauconda's Jake Grobelny doubled, finished with 2 hits and drove in 2 runs and Alex McMahon doubled and drove in 3 runs, while Greg LePage was 2-for-2 and scored twice. Korey Soetaert struck out eight and allowed 3 hits in earning the win.

Round Lake fell to 2-7 in the Prairie.

Carmel 11, Marian Central 0: Eddie Pietschmann was 2-for-2 with 3 RBI, as the Corsairs won the East Suburban Catholic Conference game in five innings.

Liam Evans was 1-for-2 with 2 RBI for Carmel, and Griffin North pitched 4 innings for the win.

Hampshire 9, Grayslake Central 8: The Rams lost in Fox Valley Conference action, despite Ben Fitzgerald's pair of doubles and 4 RBI.

Grayslake Central also got 2 hits apiece from Kyle Allen, Sam Ruhlmann (double) and Justin Shepley (double).

Grayslake North 12, Woodstock 5: Jake DaMore went 3-for-4 for the Knights in their Fox Valley Conference win.

Bobby Krebs (double, 2 RBI), Vince Gawerecki (double) and Brendan Taskovic each had a pair of hits for Grayslake North (14-15). Tyler Elias earned the complete-game win.