Grant 14, Round Lake 0

It soared over the left field fence. Then it hit off the backside of the nearby bleachers that sit along the home side of the football stadium at Grant High School.

Indeed, Kyle Stroup's home run ball was quite a sight.

Funny thing was, it wasn't even his most impressive home run ball of the season. Nor did it even matter in the big picture Tuesday.

Stroup's fourth-inning homer came long after he and his Grant teammates had all but locked up a victory in their first-round Class 4A state tournament game.

The Bulldogs dismantled Round Lake 14-0 in five innings after having jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first inning.

Grant, which improves to 12-17 overall and is the No. 4 seed in the Prairie Ridge regional, will take on No. 1 Prairie Ridge at 4 p.m. today at the Crystal Lake school. The Bulldogs will start their ace, which also happens to be Stroup, a hard-throwing senior who has been followed by major league scouts all season.

"I don't know what to say about him," Grant starting pitcher Ryan Thorsen said of Stroup and his ability to hit the daylights out of the ball. "That (homer) was a pretty nice one. But he's actually hit the ball ONTO the football field before. So this one wasn't even that big of a deal."

"This one was a pop-up," Stroup joked of his eighth dinger of the season. "Two weeks ago, I think I put it right in the dead circle of the soccer field, or, you know, the football field."

It was a small victory for the visiting Panthers that they didn't have to witness something like that, too.

Against Grant, just about everything that could go wrong for Round Lake did. Particularly in the first inning.

The Panthers, who were the No. 5 seed in the regional and close out their season with a 6-19 record, nearly allowed Grant to go through its batting order two full times in the first inning. The Bulldogs were one batter shy of doing so.

Round Lake starter David Ershbock, the team's best pitcher through much of the season, had a nightmarish outing. He began the game with three straight walks and ultimately walked 8 of the 16 batters he faced in the first inning.

He was taken out after the 16th batter and reliever Adam Fernandez came in to retire the next Grant batter for the third out.

Ershbock had also given up a double to Nick Guenther and a single to Nathan Lucas. Two Grant batters reached on errors and two were hit by a pitch.

The total damage in the inning was 11 Grant runs on just 2 hits.

The Bulldogs added another run off of a double by catcher Gerik Wallsten in the third inning before Stroup's big home run in the fourth.

"All year we've had that one inning where we just self-destruct and you saw it today," Round Lake coach Fred Colon said. "Ershbock, throughout the season, he's been a phenomenal pitcher for us. Unfortunately today, he just didn't have it.

"You get behind like that and mentally, it just takes its toll."

Thorsen took a toll on Round Lake, too.

He went the distance for Grant and gave up only 2 hits while allowing just 1 walk. He had a no-hitter going through the first three innings.

Jeff Nicoline and Nikko Carroll spoiled that by getting back-to-back hits for Round Lake with one out in the fourth inning.

"I was throwing a lot of curves today. That was working," Thorsen said. "And putting up 11 runs in the first inning is usually nice for a pitcher. That helps."

Stevenson 4, Zion-Benton 0: At Stevenson, Scott Firth pitched a 2-hitter, striking out 12 and walking one, as the 13th-seeded Patriots won the regional play-in.

Dan Morales went 2-for-3 with a triple for Stevenson (15-15), which plays No. 4 Rolling Meadows at 4 p.m. today in Lincolnshire.

Kyle Ruchim and Matt Goll tripled and doubled, respectively. Firth improved to 6-3.

Grayslake N. wins by forfeit: Chicago Uplift forfeited its Class 3A regional quarterfinal against Grayslake North.

No. 9 Grayslake North will host No. 5 Lakes in a regional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Carmel 11, Fremd 2: Jordan Sivertsen went 3-for-3 with his eighth homer of the season and a double, as the Corsairs cruised in their regular-season finale.

Carmel (28-5) opens the Class 4A Warren regional against No. 16 Lake Forest at 4 p.m. today in Gurnee.

The Corsairs scored 5 runs against Fremd in the bottom of the first and added five more in the third.

Brian Siedlecki went 2-for-3 with a triple and 2 RBI, while Carmel also got doubles from Bobby Lyne and Neil Misak. Joe Pudlo was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Kevin Hendricks had a single and 2 RBI.

Paul Poirer pitched 4 innings in earning the win.

Lake Forest 8, Waukegan 7: At Lake Forest, the 16th-seeded Scouts won the Warren regional play-in game in 10 innings.

Andy Carpenter hit a walk-off single for Lake Forest. Carpenter, who also homered, finished with 3 RBI.

David Holmes went 5-for-6 with 2 RBI for the Scouts, and he also pitched 3½ innings of no-run relief to get the win.

Lake Zurich 6, Shepard 2: On Monday, Peter Romanello hit a pair of solo homers, his first two of the season, as the Bears won the nonconference game.

The home runs were hit to center field "into a stiff wind," coach Gary Simon said.

Joey DeBernardis was 2-for-3 with a double for Lake Zurich.

Steve Cleary pitched all 7 innings for the win, scattering 3 hits while striking out eight and walking four.

"Cleary turned in a stellar performance on the hill," Simon said. "He hasn't pitched much because of arm problems, but he appears full-strength and ready for the stretch."

Lake Zurich (26-7) opens the state tournament today against Buffalo Grove at Barrington.