Baseball: Mundelein tops Libertyville, tightens up NSC race
Mundelein's baseball team won for the second day in a row in a key North Suburban Conference matchup with Libertyville, this time winning the second game of three in their series 7-2 at home.
The key was a 6-run fifth inning for the Mustangs, who got RBI singles from Steven Sanchez and Austin Greco and a 2-run single from Mason Schaller in the frame.
Starter Jonathan Hanscom went 6 innings and allowed Libertyville 2 hits and a walk to go with 8 strikeouts in earning the win.
Sanchez finished 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI for Mundelein (16-5, 11-3). Drew Breitenreiter had a pair of hits, and Jeff Morton tripled, drove in a run and scored once.
Leadoff man Tommy Rigali and Nick Angel accounted for all of the 4 hits for NSC leader Libertyville (17-6, 12-2), which now holds a 1-game lead over the Mustangs. Rigali went 2-for-4 and drove in both Wildcats runs, and Angel was 2-for-3 with a triple.
Carmel 13, Marist 12 (8): Charley Dir drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to help the host Corsairs to an East Suburban Catholic Conference win.
All that was possible thanks to Austin Ehrens' two-out grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to tie it up at 12-12. Ehrens finished 2-for-4 with 4 RBI.
Lucas Galdoni and James Tarzon also had homers for Carmel, Brandon Banker was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Dir earned the pitching decision.
Warren 24, Waukegan 9: The visiting Blue Devils produced 22 hits and scored 11 runs in the final at-bat in North Suburban Conference play.
Biggest hitters for Warren (14-8, 7-7) included Sam DeLuca (4-for-5, 4 RBI), Nate Rentas (2-for-4, double, 4 RBI) and leadoff man Danny Ahn (3-for-5, walk, 4 runs).
Maine West 11, Vernon Hills 7: Matt Johnston doubled three times on his way to finishing 4-for-4 with 2 RBI to propel the visiting Warriors to a Central Suburban North victory.
Emmett Olson doubled twice and drove in 3 runs, and Matt Fairhead homered and drove in 4 runs for Maine West (7-10).
Top producers for Vernon Hills (7-13-1) included Jake Morris (2-for-2, triple, 2 RBI), Tony Brown (2-for-2, 2 walks, 2 runs) and Ethan Bowers (double, 1 RBI).
Antioch 10, Lakes 2: Pat Day was 3-for-3 with a homer and 4 RBI, and JR Johnson went 2-for-4 with a home run and double, as the Sequoits won the Northern Lake County Conference game.
John Petty also had 3 hits in the win, finishing 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Colin Wieska was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI to aid his own cause. Wieska pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) with 7 strikeouts.
Lakes (13-8, 7-6) got a triple from Quinn McQuade and doubles from Jeff Nielsen and Matt Grubb.
Grayslake Central 8, Wauconda 5: The host Rams improved to 19-2 and 9-1 in the Northern Lake County Conference, as they received 2 hits apiece from Benton Troehler (2-for-2, double, 2 RBI), Tony Neuman (2-for-3, double, 3 RBI) and Clay Stoffel (2-for-3).
Max Snowden added a double.
Wauconda's Danny Sperling and Jake Harmon (2 RBI) each had 2 hits, including a double. Cam Janik had a double and 2 RBI.
Grant 8, Grayslake North 0: Nick Malmberg struck out seven in 4⅔ innings, as the visiting Bulldogs won in Northern Lake County Conference action.
Grant (17-5, 8-3) got a home run from Mikal Ashley. Ashley and Joe Gorden (2 RBI) were both 2-for-3.
Grayslake North fell to 10-11-1 and 6-5 in the NLCC.