Baseball: Libertyville wins in Arizona
Ryan Greenberg went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Libertyville's baseball team beat Lake Oswego (Ore.) 7-1 in Arizona on Thursday.
Brant Kym (triple, RBI) and Micah Holzworth (2 RBI) were both 2-for-3 for the Wildcats (4-2). Caleb Haddon pitched 4 scoreless, no-hit innings, striking out five and walking five. He earned the win, and Marco Scopacasa notched a 3-inning save.
Mundelein 10, New Trier 0: Brendan Murphy hit an inside-the-park home run, as the Mustangs finished their Spring Break trip to Carbondale with a 4-0 record.
Winning pitcher Will Michalski went 4⅓ innings, giving up just 1 hit, as Mundelein improved to 6-0. Jeff Morton was 3-for-4 with a triple, double and 4 RBI. Ryan Magee went 2-for-3, Nick Stricker finished 2-for-4, and Andrew Beres had a triple.
Jacobs 7, Warren 6: In downstate Illinois, the Blue Devils led 6-0 after the top of the fifth, but the Golden Eagles scored 5 runs in the bottom of the inning and twice more in the sixth to improve to 4-0.
Tanner Dyer was 4-for-5 with an RBI for Warren, while Ricky Lee went 3-for-4 with a double and triple. Cal Poremba had a 2-run double for the Blue Devils.
Grayslake Central 7, Haverford 6: On Wednesday night under the lights at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., the Rams overcame an early 4-0 deficit and a 6-3 deficit in the last inning by plating 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Philadelphia school its first loss.
Grayslake Central (4-1) finished its road trip with a 3-1 record.
Chasing 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Rams got a leadoff single by Benton Troehler. Justin Shepley and Coby Moe then walked to load the bases. Clay Stoeffl followed with a run-scoring single, and Max Snowden's base hit plated 2 more, tying the game at 6-6.
Following a lineout by Ben Kordek (2-for-4), Snowden advanced to second base. Leadoff hitter and sophomore Nic Presutti then hit a slow roller to the second basemen, and when the ball was not fielded cleaning, Snowden raced home with the winning run.
Ben Fitzgerald led Grayslake Central's 10-hit attack with a double and 2 singles. Kordek and Troehler each had a pair of hits.
On the mound, sophomore Eric Sturm entered the game with GC trailing 4-0. Seeing his first varsity action, Sturm tossed 3⅓ innings of shutout baseball, allowing only 2 hits while striking out four and walking none. Bryce Gniadek came on in the seventh and picked up the win. The senior also had a save on the Disney trip.
"Very resilient effort by the kids," Rams coach Troy Whalen said. "They showed unbelievable fight and maturity for it being this early in the season. With this being our last game, and it being played in the evening, they had every reason to fold, and they chose to stay and battle. Very proud of the effort. A great team win."
GC returns to action on Saturday, when the Rams host Zion-Benton at 11 a.m.
Mundelein 14, Shawnee 0: On Wednesday night in downstate Illinois, winning-pitcher Austin Greco struck out eight in 3 innings, as the Mustangs won in five innings.
Jeff Greco and Steven Sanchez homered, and Brett Parola was 2-for-3.
Foley 13, Vernon Hills 9: On Wednesday night, the Cougars' comeback fell short, despite 2 doubles apiece by Joe Rangel and Nick Marras.
Vernon Hills took advantage of 4 walks, a hit batsman and an error to put a 5-spot up in the top of the first. Nick Marras (2-for-5, double, RBI) had a single to help fuel the rally. Foley responded in the bottom of the frame by tallying 6 runs on 5 hits off starter Ryan Larsen.
Down 11-5, the Cougars clawed back in the fifth. Danny Wizceb reached on an error, and Caleb Thomson (2-for-4) followed with a single. Thomson was then forced out at second on a groundball for the second out. Brenna Reback drew a walk to load the bases. Joe Rangel (3-for-4, double) singled home Wizceb. Drew Winegardner drew a walk to force home the second and final run of the innings.
Vernon Hills chipped away again in the sixth. Sam Brandl reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved to second on a balk. Kyle Fasbinder's pinch-hit single gave the Cougars runners at the corners. Fasbinder moved to second on a wild pitch. Wizceb grounded out to second, scoring Brandl. With two out, pinch hitter Jake Morris singled home the final run for the Cougars.