Baseball: Lineup shuffle benefits red-hot St. Charles North

Even a potent batting order like St. Charles North's can use the occasional tweak.

Coming off a Class 4A third-place finish in 2016, North Stars coach Todd Genke made a few lineup adjustments after his veteran team dropped a 3-2 decision against South Elgin on Saturday, April 10.

Most notably, the 13th-year coach slid leadoff man Brenden Norberg to fifth after his season got off to a slow start, and he moved athletic senior Anthony Delisi to the top of the order.

St. Charles North has since won 12 straight games, in part because both Norberg and Delisi are thriving in their new lineup spots.

Norberg through 7 games at leadoff hit .210 (4-for-19) with 2 walks, 3 RBI and 6 runs scored. In 12 games since moving to the five-hole, he is batting .464 (13-for-28) with 3 doubles, a home run, 6 walks, 12 RBI and 9 runs scored.

Delisi since the switch is batting .550 (22-for-40) with 4 doubles, a triple, 4 walks, 12 RBI and 21 runs scored. Prior to the move he was batting .235 (4-for-17) with a double and 4 RBI.

In fact, the entire offense has been more productive since the move. In their first 7 games the North Stars hit .317 (57 of 180) and averaged 5.7 runs per game. In 12 games since the lineup shuffle they are batting .432 (136 of 315) and averaging 11 runs per game.

"We're all hitting now and it's contagious," Norberg said Tuesday after he went 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI in a 16-0 win at Geneva. "Everyone hits. There are no easy outs."

Of course, it helps that Delisi and Norberg bookend three future Division-I college hitters in the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 spots. Through Wednesday, Memphis-bound Zach Mettetal was hitting .475 (28-for-59) with 19 RBI and 20 runs, South Carolina recruit Tyler Mettetal was hitting .382 (21-for-55) with 8 doubles, 14 RBI and 22 runs and future Missouri State Bear Sam Faith was batting .471 (24-for-51) with 4 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs, 21 RBI and 18 runs.

"Our lineup just keeps coming at you," Genke said. "We've tried to move a few pieces around and I think we kind of like where it is now."

Productive Gators: Crystal Lake South's 13-12 comeback win over Jacobs on Wednesday epitomized its never-out-of-a-game offense.

Trailing by 6 runs in the third inning, CL South (20-1) chipped away in each frame and eventually overtook Jacobs with a 2-run sixth inning. The Gators collected 19 hits.

It wasn't a shocking turnaround considering CL South's team batting average through Wednesday was .343 (194-for-562).

"Everyone in our lineup can hit, one through nine," senior leadoff man Griffin Bright said. "If you want to walk our two-three-four hitters, we have five, six, seven, eight, nine who can all hit. With this team it's like pick your poison because anyone can come through."

That's not just chest pounding from Bright. For example, the bottom four hitters in the CL South lineup were as potent in Wednesday's comeback win as the top of the lineup. While the first five hitters in went a combined 10-for-21 with 6 RBI, Nos. 5-9 - Michael Swiatly, Noah Tyrrell, Scott Skwarek and Brent Chubb - finished 10-for-14 with 4 RBI and 8 runs scored.

Of the Gators' 19 hits against Jacobs on Wednesday, 9 went for extra bases.

"We really trust our offense," said No. 8 hitter Skwarek, who went 3-for-3 and drove in a run. "What we can do is shoot it in the gaps and put the ball in play, put pressure on the defense. We never hang our heads and we always like to come back."

The lineup features four players batting .415 or better. Senior Brian Fuentes boasts a team-best .508 average (31-for-61) with 14 doubles, a triple, 3 home runs and 27 RBI. Senior catcher Ryan Parquette is batting .435 (27-for-62) with 18 RBI. Swiatly is hitting .417 (20-for-48) with 2 triples and 12 RBI, and Chubb is batting .415 (22-for-53) with 4 doubles and 19 RBI.

Addante on the shelf: Jacobs senior Mike Addante will remain sidelined until at least the middle of next week.

The Nebraska-bound center fielder left Saturday's 6-0 win over Conant with a knee injury after a first-inning steal of second base.

One of only two returning hitters in an otherwise young Jacobs lineup, Addante was batting .339 with 19 RBI.

"I feel all right," he said before Wednesday's game at Crystal Lake South. "I'm assuming it's just a sprain but we don't know until I get the MRI. I'm going to have it Tuesday. It feels all right but I'm not going to take any risks."

Junior Braeden Wegner replaced Addante in the leadoff spot. In 3 games Wegner was 4-for-7 with a walk, a grand slam home run against league leader Crystal Lake South and 5 RBI.