Wrap: No winner in St. Charles either

At the top of the St. Charles North baseball team's dugout, there's one motivational quote after another from the likes of Knute Rockne, Vince Lombardi, Reggie Jackson and Yogi Berra.

With the way this season has gone, maybe it's time to add a meteorologist with those sports legends. Perhaps Tom Skilling or Willard Scott.

So right next to Lombardi's: "The harder you work for it, the harder it is to surrender," you can read: "With our April and May weather in Illinois, Playing spring baseball takes a lot and lot of patience."

The North Stars (20-7, 15-5) had yet another game suspended Tuesday -- their fifth in the Upstate Eight alone -- with a 2-0 lead over South Elgin (11-11, 11-11) heading to the top of the fifth inning.

"The weather has been very difficult on everybody this year," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "I can't remember a year when we've had so many suspended games. It's a strain on your pitching staff for sure."

The game will be completed after the regularly scheduled South Elgin-St. Charles North matchup Thursday in St. Charles.

"I know the rules," Genke laughed. "We're getting good at that."

Play was halted at 5:25 p.m. when lightning was spotted. The teams waited until 6:10 before suspending the game.

At the rate St. Charles North Zach Hirsch worked through the first four innings, the game might have been over before 6:10.

The junior left-hander threw just 49 pitches in the four innings, allowing no hits, no walks and striking out four. The only baserunner he allowed came on a two-out error in the third.

"That's the way to get on the mound, getting it and throwing strikes and all of a sudden you (the batter) start feeling pressure," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said.

"Anytime you have a pitcher throwing strikes, and he's getting three pitches over, now when he makes a mistake you better take advantage of it or you might not see anything good to hit."

South Elgin's Josh Myers matched Hirsch (4-2) through three scoreless innings.

Myers struck out three in those three innings and allowed only a Jake Thornton single. His center fielder Matt Wright made a pair of nice grabs in the third inning.

The North Stars used a patient approach in the fourth while Myers labored through a 34-pitch inning. Ryan Richardson and Brian de la Torriente drew walks to start the rally.

"I thought he threw some pretty good pitches that didn't go in our favor," Kating said. "He had been around the plate the whole game and I thought he deserved some of those things."

With runners at second and third and two outs, sophomore catcher Matt Stevens battled through an 8-pitch at-bat before driving a ball back through the middle for a 2-run single. With the count at 2-2, Stevens fouled off two pitches before finding one he could handle.

"I don't look at him as a sophomore anymore," Genke said. "He's an impressive kid. He's come up with some big hits for us. He's going to be fun to coach for the next couple years."

Brandon Nothnagel followed by lining out on a hard-hit ball to center, which wound up being the last batter of the game.

Larkin and Waubonsie Valley suspended: Host Larkin led 6-2 in the top of the fourth inning when lightning over Elgin halted play.

The game will be resumed today in Aurora following the conclusion of the regularly scheduled contest between these Upstate Eight Conference teams.

Luc Geier was on the mound for the Royals (11-10, 6-6), who benefited from Tyler Shore's 2-run double in the first inning and Justin Kalusa's 2-run triple in the third.

Neuqua Valley 7, Bartlett 0: ŒTrailing 7-0 after 4½ innings, Bartlett (15-8, 14-7) fell in Upstate Eight Conference action unable to generate offense in the shortened game. Dan Kasper suffered the loss allowing 7 runs (6 earned) on 8 hits in 4 innings pitched.

Elgin, Lake Park suspended: Trailing 11-1 in the fifth inning, the Elgin - Lake Park contest was suspended due to weather. If weather and daylight allow, the two will complete the Upstate Eight Conference meeting tomorrow night following their previously scheduled meeting with one another. Dan Schmerber got Elgin on the board with a home run.

Burlington Central, Sandwich suspended: With a 1-0 lead, bases loaded and nobody out, Burlington Central was sad to see this nonconference game suspended in the third inning due to weather. There is a small chance the two will continue play today. If not, the game will more than likely be washed from the schedule.

Games added: Some local Class 3A and 4A teams have added playoff tuneups to their original schedules.

Added games include a nonconference meeting in Elgin between Burlington Central and Larkin on Saturday at 10 a.m.

On Monday, Prairie Ridge will play a doubleheader against two local teams at Lippold Park in Crystal Lake. The Wolves will face Crystal Lake Central at 4:30 p.m., followed by Prairie Ridge vs. Marian Central approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1.