Baseball: Libertyville starts out hot in Arizona

Griffin Murphy triple twice and drove in 4 runs, and Libertyville's baseball team opened its Spring Break trip to Arizona with a 15-5 win over host Thunderbird in Phoenix on Monday.

Nick Angel (RBI) and Luke Plunkett (2 RBI) both doubled twice and finished 2-for-3 for Libertyville, and Ben Arnold was 3-for-4. Murphy and Andrew Kim were both 2-for-4.

Daniel Richardson picked up the win, allowing just 1 run in 4⅓ innings.

Stevenson 15, Neenah 4: In Vero Beach, Fla., the Patriots won their second game of the day, as Nick Bonk (3-for-4, 4 RBI) and Hayden Brotz (2-for-3, 2 RBI) both homered and doubled.

Xavier-bound Jack Housinger (3-for-5, 2 RBI) tripled twice for Stevenson, and Ryan McElhinny (3-for-4, 3 RBI) doubled twice. The Patriots also got a double and an RBI from Ben Chestler.

Stevenson 14, Bloomington Central Catholic 9: In Vero Beach, Fla., Joshua Snider was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI for the Patriots.

Michael D'Angelo (double, 2 RBI) and Connor Horton (triple, 3 RBI) each had 2 hits in the win. Nick Bonk picked up the victory.

Grayslake Central 12, Skyline 2: The Rams' bats remained as hot as the Florida weather, as they pounded out 17 hits en route to a six-inning victory over Skyline out of Colorado in a game played at Champions Field, spring training home of the Atlanta Braves.

Grayslake Central (4-0) fell behind 2-0 early to the suburban Denver school, but plated 4 runs in the third and three in the fourth inning to break the game open.

Senior Clay Stoffel had his third consecutive multihit game in Disney, going 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Benton Troehler added a double and single, and Max Snowden and Tony Crews both added a pair of singles. Clayton Bloemke, Eric Sturm, Colton Kugler and Tyler Marson all had pinch-hit singles to aid the Rams' cause.

Seniors Ray Bradley and Jack Fortmann shared mound duties, combining for 8 strikeouts and only 2 walks. Bradley picked up his second win on the season, fanning four over 4 innings and allowing only 1 earned run. Fortmann tossed the final 2 innings and fanned four.

Vernon Hills 5, Shelby County 0: In Kentucky, Danny Wizceb and Michael Moore combined to throw a 3-hit shutout, as the Cougars improved to 5-2.

Wizceb struck out six and didn't walk a batter in 3⅔ innings. The sophomore Moore went 3⅓ innings, yielding 1 hit while striking out two, as he made the most of his first varsity opportunity. Both pitchers were supported by flawless defense.

Jack Barsczc (triple), Quinn Geren, Brad Gothelf and Caleb Thomson all drove in runs.

Vernon Hills shortstop Tony Brown made an outstanding defensive play in the bottom of the fifth, coach Jay Czarnecki said. Rockets center fielder Hunter Housley hit a ball sharply that looked like a sure hit between third and shortstop. Brown dove to field the ball in deep short, hopped to his feet and threw a laser across the field for the out.

Vernon Hills broke a 0-0 tie in the third on Thomson's two-out RBI single. The Cougars then broke the game open in the sixth.

Kyle Fasbinder drew a walk, and pinch runner Sam Polisky moved to second as Jake Morris also walked. The sophomore Barsczc then drilled a two-strike triple to plate both Polisky and Morris. Pinch hitter Gothelf then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Barsczc.

The inning continued as Derek Jarrell walked, and pinch runner Sean Kim moved to second on Josh Liu's single. After Brown was retired, Geren came through with a two-out single to plate Kim.

Mundelein 7, Grant 3: In downstate Marion, Ryan Patel was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, and Steven Sanchez went 2-for-3 with a double.

Mundelein also got a double from Tyler Green.

Grant (4-2) suffered its second loss of the day. Daniel Laughery (2-for-3, walk) and Henry Kusiak (2-for-4, double, RBI) paced the Bulldogs offensively.

Jacobs 8, Mundelein 6: The Mustangs lost their second game of the day, after winning their first, downstate.

Jeff Morton was 3-for-5 with a triple and double. Drew Breitenreiter went 2-for-5 and knocked in a run. Steven Sanchez had a double.

Warren 4, Grant 0: In downstate Marion, the Blue Devils improved to 3-1 and handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

Sophomore Michael Kocen (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Bradley Vondruska both doubled for Warren, and Pasquale DeFilippis earned the complete-game win.

Grant (4-1) got a strong effort on the mound from Christian Nesterowicz (0-1), who went 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs and striking out seven.

Carlos Martinez and Valentin Cerna were both 2-for-3 for Grant.

Warren 1, Marion 0: Sophomore Reece Lawler struck out 9 batters and notched the win, as the Blue Devils won their second game of the day downstate.

Matthew Langevin earned the save, as Warren improved to 4-1.

University 5, Lakes 4: In Florida, The Eagles lost in 8 innings, despite 2-for-4 efforts from Michael Behrendt (2 doubles) and Cameron May (double, 3 RBI).

Lakes starting pitcher Quinn McQuade allowed 1 run (unearned) in 4 innings.

South Willoughby 2, Grayslake North 1: Regen Marsell was 2-for-2 for the Knights in their loss to the Ohio opponent.

Sebastian Sancen pitched 4 innings for Grayslake North, allowing 2 runs, only one of which was earned.

Waukegan sweeps Round Lake: The Panthers lost 6-5 and 10-3 in nonconference action.

In Game 1: Charlie Burton was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI for Round Lake, while Wyatt Hill (RBI) and Amadeaus Pope each had a pair of hits. Lucas Hollingsworth doubled and allowed 3 runs in 6 innings on the mound.

In the second game, Hollingsworth was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Hill had a double and an RBI.

Grayslake Central 10, Shadyside 0: On Sunday, for the second consecutive day at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., the Rams received some outstanding pitching, this time from junior Eric Sturm, and timely hitting up and down the order in defeating their opponent from Pennsylvania in five innings.

Sturm struck out four and scattered 3 singles, as the Rams improved to 3-0 on the season. Ray Bradley and Jack Fortmann each tossed a scoreless innings, and the Rams defense turned 2 double plays.

Offensively, Max Snowden homered, Tony Neuman had a double and 2 RBI, Tony Crews doubled, and Benton Troehler added 2 singles. Leadoff man Nic Presutti set the tone for the GC offense, scoring 3 runs while stealing 3 bases.

Montour 4, Grayslake North 2: On Sunday, Sebastian Sancen had a double in the Knights' loss.