Crystal Lake Central 14, Lakes 3
Falling behind 8-0 proved to be too much for fifth-seeded Lakes to overcome Wednesday in the Grayslake Central Class 3A baseball sectional semifinals.
No. 10 seed Crystal Lake Central jumped all over the Eagles for 8 runs on 6 hits in the top of the second, as the Tigers rolled to a 14-3 victory in six innings.
Crystal Lake Central (17-14) will face the winner of today's game between No. 2 Marian Central and No. 6 Richmond-Burton at 11 a.m. Saturday for the sectional crown.
Lakes (18-14) retired the first Tiger batter in the second, but it was all downhill from that point for Eagles starting pitcher Tim Ryan.
A double by Robert Bellish off the center fielder's glove got the big rally started before a hit batsman and walk loaded the bases.
A 2-run double by Will Streit was followed by a 2-run single by No. 9-hitter Connor Buxton for a quick 4-0 CLC lead.
A double to deep center field by winning pitcher Chad Staudt put runners on second and third before a walk and a key infield error brought Buxton home for a 5-0 lead.
Then a 2-run double by Bellish and an RBI single by Adam Nisenson made the score 8-0. The Tigers scored 4 unearned runs in the inning with 14 batters coming to the plate.
"Sometimes you just don't make plays when they need to be made, but what are you going to do," said Lakes coach Mark Tschappat, whose team was out-hit 13-4. "What I am proud of is there was one point in the game when I thought we were going to cave, but we were able to fight through some adversity and never give up."
A sacrifice fly by Streit drove in Nisenson for a 9-0 lead in the fourth inning before a leadoff single by Lakes' Travis VanderWall broke up Staudt's no-hitter in the fifth.
Kevin Kelly's RBI double to center field knocked in VanderWall with the Eagles' first run before Andrew Highland's RBI single to center made the score 9-2.
Crystal Lake Central added 5 runs on 3 hits off reliever VanderWall in the sixth. A controversial 3-run homer by Josh Fick accounted for the final Tigers' scoring.
Fick's homer appeared to hit the right-field fence on a fly, but the umpire ruled that the ball hit the scoreboard and deflected back onto the field.
"We're proud of our kids, we came out and played well, and we've had a good stretch here," said CLC coach Jeff Aldridge, whose team defeated Lakes earlier in the season. "The eight-run inning gave us confidence the rest of the day at the plate and it puts your pitcher at ease."
Lakes added a run in its half of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Kelly.