Baseball: Thomson, Vernon Hills outscore Zion-Benton
Caleb Thomson went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles to lead a 12-hit attack, and Vernon Hills' baseball team defeated visiting Zion-Benton 10-4 in a nonconference game on Friday.
Thomson drove in 3 runs and scored twice. Derek Jarrell (double, RBI) and Jake Morris (RBI, run) added 2 hits apiece. Quinn Geren singled, scored and knocked in 2 runs. Cougars sophomore Brad Gothelf registered his first varsity hit, and sophomore Sam Polisky stole his first base on the varsity level.
Thomson started on the mound and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) in 2 innings with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks. Jarrell pitched the final 3 innings and earned the win. He also yielded 2 runs, while striking out four and walking two.
Vernon Hills improved to 5-2 on the season and will travel to Louisville, Kent., to play games next week during Spring Break.
Grayslake North 11, Brooke 2: Jason Donohue and Austin DeLao each had a pair of hits for the Knights, who opened their Spring Break trip by beating their opponent from West Virginia.
Grayslake North got 2 RBI each from DeLao, Nick Lovitsch and Sebastian Sancen. Eddie Erickson pitched 4 shutout innings in picking up the win.
Lakes 4, Deerfield 3: Jason Volpe's triple was the lone hit for the host Eagles in their five-inning win.
Lakes (2-1) scored the winning run in the fifth when EJ Roncone's sacrifice fly scored Volpe.
Stevenson 12, Highland Park 0: On Thursday, Jacob Rosenkranz, Michael Thon and Hayden Brotz combined on a 1-hitter, and the host Patriots erupted for 11 runs in the fourth inning en route to the five-inning win.
Rosenkranz started and threw 2 hitless innings and picked up the win. Thon followed with 2 innings of one-hit ball. Brotz pitched the fifth inning.
Stevenson (2-0) received the only run it needed in the bottom of the first, when Evan Kiah's sacrifice fly scored Jack Housinger, who had doubled. The big blow in the fourth inning was a bases-clearing double by Isaiah Hart. Jack Jonota and Matt Dutler added RBI singles, and senior Connor Horton had a sacrifice fly.