Baseball: Glassey's smooth effort settles Lakes

Joe Glassey's fastball hit 87 mph on the radar gun against Grant last week.

And now we know Lakes' 6-foot-3 junior right-hander is equally talented at both fielding his position and hitting the baseball.

He displayed all three aspects of his game Friday against visiting Antioch, as Lakes avoided a three-game sweep by rallying for a 6-4 win. Glassey's 3-run triple with two out in the fifth inning off Sequoits returning all-conference righty Nick Sheren was the difference.

Also important for Lakes (14-9, 8-7) was center fielder Logan Mueller's highlight catch to rob No. 9 hitter Austin Delgado of at least a double leading off the seventh for Antioch (12-10, 8-6). A sprinting Mueller made a leaping catch with his back to the infield.

"We won by 2 runs, but there's a chance that's a game-saving catch," Lakes coach Bob Holst said. "It would have been the tying run up in their leadoff hitter, (John) Petty, who's killed us. And those guys can swing the bats. That catch was huge."

So was Glassey's.

With Lakes leading 2-0, Colin Wieska led off the Antioch fourth by hitting a line drive back to the mound. Glassey snagged it inches from his jaw. He bounced his next pitch, to Patrick Day, prompting a mound visit by Holst. Day eventually walked, and JR Johnson followed with a home run down the left-field line, tying the score at 2-2.

"I was a little bit shaken up (by the Wieska line drive)," Glassey said. "That ball came at me fast, and it was right at my face."

It was the second homer at Lakes this week for Johnson, the Wisconsin-Oshkosh-bound catcher.

"I just like the competition playing against my friends from a long time ago," Johnson said. "Just trying to see the ball deep, especially against these guys. It's always a fun opponent."

Glassey, who threw 21 pitches in Wednesday's game against Antioch that was called in the second inning due to rain, tossed 4⅔ innings, striking out five and allowing 4 hits. He went to play first base after Antioch scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth, allowing the visitors to take a 4-2 lead.

EJ Roncone got the final out of the Sequoits fifth and picked up the win by throwing 2⅓ innings of 1-hit ball in relief.

Lakes' 4-run fifth featured singles by Andrew Gaetano, Matt Grubb and Michael Behrendt, before Glassey lifted an opposite-field triple that bounced up against the wall in right.

"I think he just made a little mistake and left the pitch up," Glassey, who then scored on a wild pitch, said of Sheren. "I just got a hold of it and took it the other way."

Antioch coach Chris Malec wasn't about to pull Sheren, who struck out eight in 5 innings.

"These (Lakes) guys seem like they hit fastballs pretty well, and he's got a great curve," Malec said. "I really liked that matchup."

Behrendt (RBI) and Mueller were both 2-for-3 for Lakes, and Quinn McQuade had a double.

Logan Delgado and Peter Gross doubled for Antioch. Petty had an RBI single.

"In this conference, to sweep a team is very difficult," Malec said. "I thought Glassey threw very well. We got to him a little bit, and then they brought in (Roncone) with a big curveball and he threw strikes. Sometimes that's hard when you get that speed difference."