Grayslake C. 3, Libertyville 2
On a day that wasn't suited for catching a baseball, Grayslake Central catcher Josh DeAngelis made two unbelievable catches.
At the same time.
"One of the batters called timeout, and I think I got a raindrop in both of my eyes," DeAngelis said with a sheepish grin.
"I didn't want to start crying, though."
There is no crying in baseball, after way. But the way Grayslake Central edged visiting Libertyville 3-2 on Friday was a crying shame.
The Rams scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a passed ball with the bases loaded and two out.
The nonconference game between two of Lake County's best teams was played in intermittent rain and temperatures in the 40s. A strong wind howled, too, and by the seventh, daylight was vanishing rapidly.
"The balls were getting really wet," DeAngelis said. "The ball was looking a lot smaller coming out of the pitcher's hand."
The weather foiled both teams. Grayslake Central (7-2) scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning with two out when Angelo Gargano's seemingly routine fly ball kept drifting away from Wildcats left fielder Adam Quinn, who also had trouble getting his footing.
The ball dropped for an RBI single.
But Libertyville (6-3) tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the seventh by scoring an unearned run off reliever Kevin O'Rourke, who was trying to nail down the save.
A one-out walk, wild pitch, infield error and intentional pass loaded the bases. O'Rourke got a swinging strikeout for the second out, but he then uncorked a pitch that sailed past DeAngelis, allowing Quinn to race home with the tying run.
"Those are the first two wild pitches Josh has allowed all year," Rams coach Troy Whalen said. "He's been a wall back there. Our catching has been solid -- both he and Sean Seiler."
With Libertyville righty Brooks McDowell starting his fourth inning on the mound in relief of starter Jacob Booden (3 innings, 0 earned runs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts), DeAngelis led off the bottom of the seventh by getting hit by a pitch.
Matt Schmidt's sacrifice bunt moved up courtesy runner Chris Brown. Libertyville intentionally walked Nick Tielke (1-for-3) and Shawn Tobie (1-for-3, RBI single), then got a popout.
With fifth-place hitter Jordaan Williams (1-for-3) at the plate, McDowell's outside pitch eluded the catcher. Brown got a good read on the pitch, Whalen said, and sped home with the winning run.
"It was just important to get this game in," Whalen said. "Obviously we do a lot of work on our field, and our field was fine. It's not ideal baseball weather, but I was very proud of our guys with how we came back in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"It was a big letdown in the top of the seventh. We make an error and we have a couple of wild pitches. The umpire said (the bottom of the seventh) was probably going to be it. Our kids could have walked away satisfied, saying that we tied Libertyville, (but) that was not in their mind set."
Rams starting pitcher Kevin DeRue had a no-hitter for 3¿ innings. Louis Educate then doubled and Quinn stroked an RBI single to tie the game at 1-1.
Libertyville, however, had only 1 more hit the rest of the game. Four Rams pitchers -- DeRue, lefties Zach Dorfman and Steve Gawinski, and O'Rourke -- held the Wildcats' first four hitters to a combined 0-for-12.
"We can't hit the ball right now," Libertyville coach Jim Schurr said. "We're getting no production out of 1-4. I can't remember the last hit we've had from our top four guys."
Carmel 10, Cary-Grove 1: Jordan Sivertsen smacked 2 hits, including a home run, on his way to a 4-RBI day for Carmel.
The 6-0 Corsairs also got 2 hits from Joe Pudlo, who tallied 3 RBI.
John Zeffery had a double and David Venegoni drove in 2 runs.
On the mound, Bobby Lyne rolled up 4 strikeouts in 6 innings.
Mundelein 11, Antioch 2: The Mustangs were off to the races Friday, scoring 9 runs in the first two innings alone.
Colton Tortorello, Alex Ahonen and Mark VanderVennet all had 2 hits. Tortorello, Kevin Barber and Brad Medina each had a double.
On the mound, Eric Rohe led the way with 5 strikeouts in 4 innings.
Mundelein moves to 8-1 on the season.
Stevenson 21, Round Lake 0: The scorekeepers probably got hand cramps in this game.
The Patriots (5-3) couldn't stop scoring, thanks to 17 hits on the day.
Walter Weiner had a double for Stevenson, which also got a solid pitching effort out of starter Matt Robin and Josh Howard. They combined for a 1-hitter.
Robin rolled up 7 strikeouts en route to his first win (1-0).
Lakes 14, Johnsburg 5: Pitcher Tim Ryan got his first win of the season to lead Lakes to the nonconference win.
Ryan (1-2) pitched 5½ innings and rolled up 6 strikeouts.
Offensively, the Eagles saw Travis VanderWall put together a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate.
Meanwhile, Lakes (1-2) got 3 hits out of Eric Lopez , who had 2 doubles and 2 RBI.
Kevin Kelly also had 3 hits with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.
Woodstock 10, Grayslake N. 8: Grayslake North rallied with a 3-run seventh inning but it wasn't enough to get the Fox Valley Conference win.
Jim Butler had 3 hits and Stephen Kalina had 2 hits for the Knights, who fall to 2-2 on the season.