Grayslake North’s perseverance pays off

It would have been tempting for the players in Grayslake North’s dugout to check out early from Wednesday’s game at Antioch.

And not just because they were anxious to seek shelter and reprieve from 40-degree temperatures and a stiff, relentless headwind.

The Knights also were continuously stymied by Antioch pitcher David Meade. He limited Grayslake North to just 2 hits and 1 run through the first four innings.

But in a valuable teaching moment, the Knights learned that it’s really not over until it’s over, and that pushing to the end can pay off.

Grayslake North saved its best for last, scoring 3 runs with 1 out in the top of the seventh inning to erase a 2-run deficit and take a 1-run lead that ultimately stood up as a 5-4 nonconference victory.

Adam Gomski came up clutch in the seventh with a two-RBI single that included the tying run. CJ Bailey then brought in the winning run.

“(This win) says that we have heart,” Gomski said. “And it says that when in doubt, put your heart into it and keep pursuing it. We started pretty bad, but we picked ourselves up and we started playing as a team and we started doing stuff really well.”

Gomski nailed a shot into centerfield that brought in Kyle McBrien and Nick Carmody. Grayslake North, which improves to 3-5, was down 4-2 at the time.

“I was just thinking that I needed to get a nice hit to pick the team up and hopefully we could get 2 runs out of it and we did,” said Gomski, who got his only hit of the game at the perfect time.

Bailey’s game-winning RBI came right after, although he actually reached first on a fielder’s choice. The Sequoits elected to throw Gomski out at second, but then there was some confusion about where to go next, to first for a potential double-play or to home to throw out Travis McKenzie, who was rounding third.

Ultimately, the Sequoits froze, the ball went nowhere and McKenzie scored what became the winning run.

“Defensively, we broke down just a little bit,” Antioch coach Paul Petty said. “It’s (a situation) we’ve practiced but sometimes in the heat of the battle, things go badly. We just let them off the hook.”

And yet, the Sequoits (5-2) almost managed to make up for it.

In the bottom of the seventh, they got three straight hits. And the third one by Adam Warner appeared to bring in Mitch Everett from second. That would have tied the game at 5-5 with 2 outs. But Warner’s shot hit the umpire in the field and Everett was sent back to third base as the rules indicate that a runner can advance just one base if the ball hits an umpire in play.

“We got off to a shaky start but we crawled back into it,” Grayslake North coach Andy Strahan said. “And then we got lucky with some things with the way the ball bounced, thanks to the umpire.”

Antioch got an out on the next at-bat to end the game.

“The ump got us pretty good on that one,” Warner said. “I always thought the ump was in play, but I guess not. We had a rally going and that kind of blew it.

“We thought we had it the whole game until they started coming back. But we let down, which we shouldn’t have.”