Northbrook making impact in Cook County

Northbrook has showed it may be the team to beat in Cook County American Legion baseball this summer.

Only three teams had beaten the Braves through their first 23 games. It’s the fastest they have reached 20 victories in 40 seasons under coach Mitch Stewart.

“We’ve done some good stuff and beaten a lot of good teams,” said Stewart, whose team won its first six Cook County games. “We had a good returning core and we added several other good kids.

“It’s about setting the bar high this year and we’re on a decent path to do something really good. I like everything I’m seeing.”

Particularly from fifth-year player Brett Synek. The former Glenbrook North star, who had a monster season at Oakton College, is hitting close to .600 and chasing the program season records for average (.523) and hits (75) set by current Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis.

“He’s having a sensational season and he’s a very special player,” Stewart said.

A big contingent of Wheeling products are also playing big roles in Northbrook’s success. Matt Hart came back after pitching for Illinois Wesleyan and Theo Yfantis also returned.

Stewart said Kalvin Thong “has been sensational and like a vacuum” at third base and Nick Ricciardi’s versatility and David Shapiro’s bat have been key contributors. Ryan Bendewald also pitches and Angelo Deblasio was just added to the roster.

“We normally have one or two (Wheeling) kids but it’s good to start pulling in more,” Stewart said.

Fourth-year player Henry Erickson, Sean Thomas and Peter Resnick have helped bolster the pitching along with pitcher-outfielder John Boidanis, who is going to Black Hawk College.

Northbrook is already closing in on last year’s win total in a 26-18 finish. The Braves are at the Waukegan wood-bat tournament this weekend and head to the Quad Cities for a tough tourney next weekend.

Barrington battles on: Even though the recent results were mixed, Barrington coach Pat Wire liked what he saw with his team short two key players.

Barrington was missing Frank Waliczek, who is on a team which made a trip to Prague, and Max Redpath, who is taking part in a school trip to the Dakotas. And they will be away for another week.

But that has provided opportunities for players such as Jake Coon, who leads the team in RBI with 15 and homered a few games ago.

“He’s given us a huge lift,” Wire said. “Once we get the nucleus of our team together on the field we can be really dangerous.”

Barrington played for third place in its Mid-Summer Classic and lost 11-10 to Genoa City (Wis.) before a tie game with Zion, which was called because of darkness, will be made up if necessary for the 10th District standings. It lost 12-2 to Mundelein before rebounding to beat Libertyville 7-3 to improve to 13-7.

Mitchell Pfeiffer and Macray Poidomani have also been playing well for Barrington, which goes to Waukegan for a wood-bat tourney this weekend and then returns home for a key 10th District game Monday against repeat Mid-Summer Classic champion Lake Zurich.

“What’s most important is to peak at the right time and we’re looking for the right combinations,” Wire said. “Ultimately we’re trying to keep our arms fresh and I’m happy with the way we’re hitting the ball.”

Arlington looks to get rolling: Arlington’s 13-12 loss to Lake Zurich in the title game of the Barrington Mid-Summer Classic typified its start to the season. A 5-run lead in the first lost because of a bad inning but a late rally which put the tying run at second base in the seventh inning.

Arlington went 2-2 at Barrington as Matt Hendricks pitched well to beat Barrington and homered. His brother Dan also homered in the tourney.

The Eagles also came back to beat Portage Park 6-1 on Wednesday in a Cook County game as Pat Nix threw a 4-hitter with 7 strikeouts and he got the victory thanks to a 6-run rally in the sixth.

“Nix pitched very well and (Portage Park) has a better club and they made plays,” said Arlington coach Lloyd Meyer. “We’re still working on our pitching and trying to get a few guys straightened out. We’re just kind of treading water right now and hopefully we have a good tourney at Moline.”

Arlington hosts the Chicago Indians at 7:30 p.m. today and Mount Prospect at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rec Park.

Tough turn for Mount Prospect:Mount Prospect coach Tom Krumsee laughed and said it was if the baseball gods stepped in to knock his team down a couple of pegs after its Danville tourney title.

The Bulldogs went 1-4 as the only Legion team in the Fort Wayne (Ind.) tourney and suffered County losses to Elk Grove and Portage Park. Mark Witzke went 5 innings in a 10-2 win in Fort Wayne.

Sean Reszotko and Niko Poulos combined on a 3-hitter in the next game but lost 3-2 as a double error scored 2 runs and the final run scored in the seventh on a passed ball. That took Prospect out of trophy consideration so Krumsee spread out his pitching and playing time.

The first 2 runs against Portage Park were also unearned but Jake Loguidice threw 80 pitches and allowed only 1 earned run in 5 solid innings. Loguidice threw about 50 pitches in his first start.

“We’re just not hitting well enough to overcome those (mistakes) right now,” Krumsee said. “He looked so much more comfortable and got a lot of ground balls.”

The other positives in the tough stretch include Sean Reszotko and Brad Moore getting interest from Indiana Tech coaches over the weekend, the addition of Maine West grad and all-area outfielder-pitcher James Duckmann and the hitting of Josh Koutnik (.400) in the No. 3 spot and Jack Warner (.370).

“(Koutnik) just hits everything,” Krumsee said. “If they make a mistake he’s hitting it hard everywhere. And Jack Warner has really taken advantage of his opportunity to play every day.”

Prospect is at Arlington at Rec Park at 1 p.m. Saturday and faces Elk Grove at 6 p.m. Tuesday at St. Viator.

Blue Jays building for the finish: Palatine went 1-3 in the Barrington Mid-Summer Classic but coach Jeff Ryder isn’t concerned right now about his team’s 6-6-1 overall record (2-1-1 Cook County).

“We had some good moments and some games we should have won,” Ryder said, “but we had some throwing errors and defensive mistakes we don’t normally do.”

Palatine beat Elk Grove 9-3 eight days ago as Lee Breitzman threw a complete game.

“He pitched a fantastic game and we swung the bats so well,” Ryder said. “It was one of our best games so far and we had to be sharp against that team.”

Slow, sluggish stretch for Red Sox: A lull in the schedule for Elk Grove seems to have coincided with one in its play as it lost 9-3 to Palatine last Thursday and 14-4 to Northbrook on Tuesday. But coach Brian Mucha isn’t sure if all the time off with no tournaments last weekend or this weekend has been the reason.

“There’s a reason why Northbrook is undefeated (in Cook County) but at the same time, we’re not really playing well and we’re mediocre at best right now,” Mucha said. “We’re hitting the ball but at the same time we’re doing a lot of stupid things, overthrowing cutoffs and not backing up bases.

“It’s stuff you would think with such a veteran group it wouldn’t be things we would have to retouch. If we have any aspirations of winning the County title we have to get it turned around here.”

Elk Grove’s schedule picks up next week with 6 p.m. games at St. Viator against Palatine on Monday and Mount Prospect on Tuesday before it heads to Moline for the Quad Cities Tournament.