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Baseball: Warren has answers against Glenbrook North

For a split second, Warren and its faithful were perhaps in shock.

Glenbrook North leadoff hitter Jimmy Karfis had just taken Warren starter Evan Hill's first pitch of the game over the fence in left-center field fence.

The Blue Devils worried?

Not even close.

"We are like a band of brothers and trust each other, especially with our offense," said Hill, who after the homer ended up pitching a 7-hit gem with 5 strikeouts and no walks, as fourth-seeded Warren claimed its third straight regional crown with a 6-1 victory over visiting No. 14 seed Glenbrook North on Saturday morning in Gurnee.

"You can't look back. I knew I just had to settle down and keep throwing strikes."

Warren (28-9) moves on to play top-seeded Buffalo Grove (29-4-1) in the Class 4A Glenbrook South sectional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

After Karfis said "en guard," the Blue Devils' Luke Schmitt put a big smile back on his best friend Hill's face by saying "touché." Schmitt hit a 2-run bomb of his own over the right-field fence in the bottom half of the inning, plating Tanner Dyer, who led off the frame with a single.

"I was just trying to get on base," said Schmitt, who finished 2-for-4 and a stolen bag. "I had to try and help Evan out. And he was unbelievable. He really buckled down after the first inning."

All of a sudden it was 2-1 Blue Devils, and that jubilation and energy from the Schmitt blast only got stronger, as did Hill, as the game went on.

"His homer fired me up," Hill said. "We've pride ourselves on the offense and trying to get out to an early lead."

Hill also did his running mates and himself proud at the plate by smashing a towering 3-run, fifth-inning homer to left field. Senior Ricky Lee (double) and junior Sam Deluca (walk) scored to make it 6-1 and put Warren well in control.

"Luke's been solid for us all year hitting in the 2-spot," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "And in the beginning of the season, Evan was 3-4 in the rotation. Now he's one of our top-2 pitchers. He's a great competitor and showed excellent control today."

Before Hill's homer, senior Victor Perez belted a one-out single to center. He then got caught in a rundown but advanced to third on an errant throw and soon after trotted home on the double by Lee off the fence in left.

Glenbrook North (19-16) loaded the bases in the top of the fifth, but Hill's big strikeout ended any threat.

"Evan did a great job of overpowering their hitters," Smothers said. "I'm so proud of these guys. Their work ethic is outstanding. You don't have to tell them anything. They just do it."

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