Dundee-Crown 13, Grayslake North 11
After 299 wins, Dundee-Crown baseball coach Fred Bencriscutto needed something memorable for No. 300.
After visiting Grayslake North put up 10 runs in the first 3 innings, it looked like Wednesday's Fox Valley Conference crossover was going to be a game top forget.
But in a tribute to the Chargers' program history, Dundee-Crown slowly chipped away and gave Bencriscutto the milestone 13-11 victory.
"That game took 2 years off of my life," Bencriscutto joked. "The way we won that game showed character. That's what we need to win."
After giving up 10 runs, 9 earned, through the first 4 ½ innings, Chargers' starter Ken Warzalek was replaced by Brendon Schumacher.
The junior (1-0) allowed just 1 run in his 2¿ innings of work to take the win. The lone run came when Vinnie Licciardello used the strong wind and jacked a solo home run over the left field wall to cut the Chargers' lead to 13-11. Schumacher then hit Nick Harrington and Tim Elias got a single to put the tying run on base.
Schumacher got Jordan Field to ground into a fielder's choice and caught Clay Henricksen looking to end the game.
"He was outstanding in the last inning," Bencriscutto said of Schumacher's efforts. "What character her showed. (Licciardello) jacks a bomb and he gets a couple of base runners and it didn't phase him."
As a team, the Chargers (5-4) weren't phased much by the early offensive production from Grayslake North (3-4).
First baseman Mike Zozokos nailed a 3-run home run to bring Dundee-Crown to 10-8. Kyle Livengood gave the Chargers the lead an inning later when he went yard to right with his own 3-run shot. Willie Larsen and Ryan Horcher opened the inning by reaching base on errors.
Ben Rodriguez singled them both in to tie the game at 10. Livengood drove in Rodriguez and Logsn Kissak, who reached base on a fielder's choice to put D-C up 13-10.
"We didn't panic," said Livengood, who now has 2 home runs on the season. "Getting down by 5 runs, a lot of teams would get down on themselves. We're different. We didn't panic."
Grayslake North scored 6 runs in the first inning, highlighted by Ryan Guttierrez' 3-run home run. The Knights finished with 7 of their 17 hits in the first inning.
Rodriguez finished the game 4 of 4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. But more than an individual effort, Bencriscutto was most impressed with the character his team showed in the victory.
"It's not individual," Bencriscutto said of the 300 wins. "We've had a lot of great players, kids working hard. It's not an individual thing, it's a program thing."