Baseball / Lake County roundup
Vernon Hills 12, Ridgewood 2 (6 inn.): Coming back on short rest, pitcher Nick Newman would have done well to give Vernon Hills a few good innings Saturday in the regional championship game hosted on its own field.
Instead, Newman retired all but the final out of the game to lead the Cougars to a 12-2 victory in six innings over Ridgewood.
In the process, Newman (8-2 with 4 saves) also surpassed 100 strikeouts on the season.
Offensively for Vernon Hills, Jake Boyer had 3 hits while Connor McNamara had 2 hits, including a double. He also drove in 2 runs.
Tommy Earhart added another 2 hits, including a double, while Matt Paszko hit a double and drove in 3 runs.
Vernon Hills advances to the Marian Central Catholic sectional and will face Gordon Tech at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Libertyville 7, Highland Park 4: At Libertyville, the Wildcats used homefield advantage to win a regional championship.
Riley Lees went 2-for-3 and drove in a run with a triple in a pivotal second inning for Libertyville. The Wildcats scored 3 runs in the second.
Pitcher Andrew Mack got the win. He allowed 3 runs over five innings and recorded 3 strikeouts. He allowed only 2 walks.
Highland Park made a late push but closer Adam Formento put away the final six outs to record the save.
Libertyville advances to the Glenbrook South sectional and will face St. Viator at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Prairie Ridge 1, Grant 0 (9): At Grayslake North, Prairie Ridge edged Grant for the regional title with extra-inning heroics by Marcus Sargeant. He hit a home run in the top of the ninth.