Lakes 10, Grayslake North 7

In baseball, some games can be won with just one inning.

The Grayslake North regional semifinal between Lakes and the host Knights was one of those games.

In the first inning, after Lakes loaded the bases on a close play, one indignant Grayslake North fan yelled, "Well, that was the game."

He didn't know how prophetic that statement would turn out to be.

After the fan added his two cents, Lakes proceeded to jump out to a 7-0 lead thanks to 7 hits and 2 costly Grayslake North errors. Lakes not only batted around but sent up their first three batters for a second time.

Thanks to the big lead, Lakes went on to win 10-7 and knock the Knights out of their own regional.

Grayslake North ended its season at 11-17, while Lakes (17-14) will move on to meet Marengo in the Class 3A regional final.

"I think we came out hungry," Lakes senior Kyle Frye said. "We just played our best game today. It was just one of those days where we could have taken on anyone."

With the bases loaded in the first, the Eagles proceeded to pound Grayslake North to the tune of 5 runs before the first out. North pitcher Jordan Field unwittingly started out Lakes by walking in the first run.

Then, back-to-back 2-RBI doubles from D.J. Szuhay and Travis VanderWall pushed the Eagles' lead to 5-0.

Grayslake North couldn't stop the bleeding as Trey Williams knocked in another run and Aaron Piekarz scored the final run of the inning on an error.

"We really executed. We had great approaches at the plate," Lakes coach Mark Tschappat said. "I'm really happy with the way we hit today."

Tschappat had plenty to be happy about. His team belted out 13 hits, including a 335-foot 2-run homer by Frye. By the end of the fifth, Lakes had built up an insurmountable 10-1 lead.

That didn't stop Grayslake North from trying to overcome it. Through the fifth inning, Lakes pitcher Tim Ryan had pitched a good game, striking out seven while giving up just 1 run. But in the sixth, a tiring Ryan (5-4) walked three and gave up an RBI single to Nick Harrington.

To add to Ryan's pain, a costly throwing error led to 2 additional Knight runs. By the end of the inning, North had cut its deficit to 10-4.

Ryan finished the game with 8 strikeouts, 4 walks and 2 earned runs on 119 pitches.

"We would have liked to have won, but this has been our season," North coach Andy Strahan said. "We fall behind and then we come back. Sometimes we win and this time, Lakes beat us."