Libertyville 4, Lake Zurich 1

Host Libertyville wanted to continue its winning ways against a tough opponent Tuesday in North Suburban Conference Lake Division baseball.

Lake Zurich and the Wildcats were tied at 1-1 for the better part of the ballgame, but the Wildcats came up with 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to a 4-1 victory.

Bradley-bound Jacob Booden fired a 4-hitter for Libertyville to improve 2-2.

It was the third win in a row for Libertyville (9-6, 2-4).

Lake Zurich (11-5, 4-2) fell behind 1-0 right away as Libertyville leadoff hitter Tim Matheson walked, stole second and scored on an RBI double to right-center by Chase Guarnaccio.

Lake Zurich starter Ryan Morrill lasted 3½ innings while its team made 4 errors.

The Bears bounced back in the second with a two-out rally against Booden, as two hit batsmen and a walk set the stage for leadoff man Reid Bergstrom.

Bergstrom's infield single with the bases loaded drove in Mike Miller to tie the score at 1-1, but a groundout ended the inning.

The score remained 1-1 until Guarnaccio started the bottom of the fifth by reaching on a single off Lake Zurich relief pitcher Rick Erickson's leg.

Joe Aiello followed with a single to left and an error on the left fielder put runners on second and third with no outs.

Then with two outs, Tom Jacobson's grounder was misplayed by the shortstop with both runners scoring for a 3-1 lead. Jacobson scored from second on an RBI single by Luke Guarnaccio for a 4-1 advantage.

"We've really picked it up at the plate in the last couple of games and I brought my 'A' game today," said the Bradley-bound Booden. "Lake Zurich is one of the best teams in the conference so I worked on my off-speed, I used the fastball when I needed it, and the defense played well behind me."

A scary incident happened in the top of the sixth when a foul ball off a Lake Zurich player's bat hit Libertyville coach Jim Schurr in the side of the head from close range. Schurr coached the remainder of the game, but he went to the hospital afterward to be checked out for precautions.

"We talked before the game about playing solid defense and putting solid at-bats together," Schurr said. "Anytime you can hold some of their better hitters to just 1 hit, you are doing a good job pitching."