Baseball: Morton, Mundelein salt away another victory

Yes, Jeff Morton has hit 2 homers in one game before. OK, just not in high school.

Yet the big question in this nonconference game at Mundelein on Saturday morning was would the Mundelein pitching staff get a no-hitter vs. visiting Lakes?

Starter and winner Steve Sanchez did his part with 3 innings of no-hit ball. And so did reliever Zach Zentz with another frame of no-hit ball.

So why did Sanchez come out of the game having not allowed a hit?

"We try not tell our pitchers about it," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said of the no-hitter. "Unless someone brings it up."

The no-hitter vanished in the next inning. And so did the shutout. No, matter, Morton's pair of homers paved the way in Mundelein's 13-2 win.

Morton's second homer ended the game in the sixth inning, hiking Mundelein's record to 18-0.

More on Morton's day. He walked and scored in the opening frame. The junior added a single and scored in the second to make it 4-0. Morton came up to the plate in the fourth as the leadoff hitter, and one swing of his bat made it 7-0.

"This is one of my best days in baseball," said Morton, a starter on the Mustangs' state runner-up team last year. "I've gone to the cages with my dad, and I'm really trying to get base hits. I'm not good at trying to hit home runs."

In the Lakes' fifth, Simon Varitek took a pitch the other way to right field, and the no-hitter was gone. The shutout ended shortly afterward, as Michael Behrendt delivered a 2-run double.

Despite the late rally, Lakes coach Bob Holst wasn't exactly celebrating the moment.

"We made 3 errors today," Holst said. "We never had any momentum. We got the leadoff walk and then grounded into a double play."

The big inning for Mundelein was the fifth. The Mustangs got the second hit of the day from ninth-place hitter Mason Schaller. Ryan McGee had his second hit (infield). Three straight walks and an infield error led to 4 runs.

"We had some good swings today," Parola said. "We just hope it continues to into next week. All I know is we are 0-0 going into Monday. We like to stay in the now."

Up by nine runs, the Mustangs needed to score twice in the sixth so they could go to lunch. And Morton obliged. This time, there was no doubt about his second homer. It left the ballpark in a hurry.

"I saw it was a curveball," Morton said. "I saw it really well. And I pulled it."

Holst and the 9-7 Eagles know it's time to be patient. Lakes has just four seniors.

Every Mundelein starter reached base at least once. Leadoff hitter Nick Stricker added a sacrifice fly. First baseman Brendan Murphy had an RBI, and Sanchez also chipped in an RBI single.