Baseball notes: Lakes makes its move up NLCC standings; Lake Zurich doing the same in NSC

The Lakes baseball team most certainly is a contender for biggest turnaround story of the season.

Coach Chris Hoffman’s bunch started the week 16-6 overall and sat in second place in the Northern Lake County Conference with an 8-2 mark.

Lakes went 19-13 and finished 9-9 and in fifth place in the league last year.

Seniors Owen Klosinski (.534 hitting) and Zack Raffone (.441) are leading the way offensively, while pitcher Brett Beerbower through a complete game in a win against Lake Forest last week.

“Owen and Zack are having great seasons,” Hoffman said. “On the mound, our pitchers have been solid.”

Antioch update: The Sequoits (15-9-1, 6-4 NLCC after a 6-0 win over front-runner Lakes earlier in the week) have been led at the plate by Evan Schmidt (.400 hitting, 26 hits, 2 homers, 19 RBI), Nathan Yeager (.422, 27 hits), Mason Willis (.321) and Zach Rubin (.327).

Coach Frank Fracek noted Schmidt, in particular, has been “a monster for our lineup and has carried us in big moments,” he said. “Evan continues to get on base and have quality at-bats every time he walks up to the plate. He’s also been an anchor for our defense, playing well at first base.”

Fracek added Jackson Mozina has gotten into a groove of late. “Jackson also has started to heat up for us in every way,” he said. “He has taken his hitting to the next level and is driving the ball with authority. Most importantly for our team, he has been a stud in center field all year and for the last three years dating back to his sophomore season. He continues to cover ground out there like it’s a ‘no fly zone.’”

Antioch also has benefitted from solid efforts out of the bullpen. That group includes RJ Deguzman, Jack Majerowski and Andrew Olson.

“The guys in our bullpen who don’t normally get a lot of love or recognition have been good for us over the last few weeks,” Fracek said. “Like every team, they have had their share of issues, but I have been impressed with the quality of their outings. RJ, Jack and Andrew have been pitching in some big spots and competing all season. I have been proud and impressed with how they have performed.”

Grayslake Central update: Coe College commit Sam Nerini hit his first homer of the season recently against Antioch and is batting .334. “Sam has turned it up of late while playing great defense in right field,” Rams coach Troy Whalen said.

Central started the week 18-5 and was in first place in the Northern Lake County Conference at 9-1 after a recent win against Grant coupled with the Lakes loss to Antioch.

Cal Hanson (Parkland Community College, .470 hitting), Trevor Meathe (College of Lake County, .467), Carson Woods (.378 hitting, 25 runs), Beckham Stone (.362, team-best 15 RBI, 14 runs, team-high 3 home runs) and Ian McGowan (College of Lake County, .360, team-high 25 RBI) bring the offensive firepower for the Rams.

Brady Carlson has a team-best 2.30 ERA and is 4-0, while Nathan Fuko (College of Lake County, 1-0, 4 saves, team-high 23 innings, sub-1.00 ERA) also has been stellar for Central, which has a 2.20 team ERA. “We have a balanced pitching staff with more than 9 pitchers having tossed 10-plus innings to date,” said Whalen, who noted 8 different Central pitchers have at least 1 win.

Whalen explained in juries, sickness and other non-baseball-related absences have prevented a late-season set lineup to be put in place. “It has forced us to rely on our depth, which has been a team strength all season,” he said. “I don’t know what the ceiling is for this group and won’t know until we get healthy if we are fortunate to get to that point. This group has shown a great desire to compete each game, and as a coach, you can’t ask for much more than that.”

Central squares off against North Suburban coleader Libertyville on Saturday in an area notable contest.

Grayslake North update: The Knights took 2 of 3 games from Round Lake last week to move to 5-17 overall and 3-9 in Northern Lake County action.

Senior shortstop Mitchell Hughes (.325 batting, 20 hits, 9 doubles, 2 homers, 15 RBI) and sophomore JD Novacek (.304, .team-best .484 on-base percentage) lead the way for North

“Mitchell has been consistent this spring,” coach Eric Lopez said.

Lopez also is thrilled to see Chris Filas return from Tommy John surgery. “He can only hit for us at the moment,” he noted.

Since returning, Filas is 3-for-8 with 2 doubles, a home run, 5 RBI, a walk and 3 hit by pitch in 12 at-bats. “We are hoping he continues on this hot streak as he consistently racks up more at-bats,” Lopez said.

Lake Zurich update: The Bears (14-9, 7-3 North Suburban) started the week winners of 8 of their last 11 contests (after a NSC split with Mundelein). Cash Kaczmarek (.431 hitting), Owen Strahl (30 RBI) and Carson Hamblin (27 hits) have been forces in the batter’s box. Hamblin hit .636 last week, while Colin Chung was at .462. On the mound, Nick Audet posted a 0.72 ERA last week, while Josh Marzec had a 2.11 ERA during the same stretch.

Libertyville update: The Wildcats recorded a 1-0 nonconference win over a strong Highland Park team last weekend in cold conditions. Quinn Schambow (.435 hitting, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 23 RBI, 20 steals), Ryan Wilberding (.435, 3 doubles, 2 homers), Cole Lockwood (.431, 6 doubles, 3 homers, 22 steals) and Josh Holst (6-0 pitching, 50 K, 14 walks in 30 1/3 innings) continue to star for coach Matt Thompson’s squad, which started the week 23-2 overall and 9-1 atop the North Suburban standings.

Mundelein update: Caden Earing hit .581 during a recent 9-game span, including 18 hits, 7 doubles, 2 triples, a homer and 9 RBI. Coach Randy Lerner also was pleased with Baris Brua’s effort in a recent NSC win over Warren where he went 6 innings, allowed no earned runs, while fanning five against 1 walk.

Earing (.429, 30 hits, 17 extra-base hits, 17 RBI, 19 runs, 7 walks, 7 steals), Joey Kafka (3-1, 1 save, 1.71 ERA, 42 K, 6 walks, 7 earned runs in 28 2/3 innings) and Sanderson (4-1, 1.52 ERA, 36 K in 23 innings) continue to be pillars for the Mustangs (16-6-2, 7-3, second North Suburban after a split with Lake Zurich earlier in the week).

Stevenson update: The Patriots picked up a 6-2 North Suburban win over Warren Monday to move to 12-15 overall and 4-6 in league play.

“We had a great team win against Warren,” said interim coach Brad Sorkin, who was the team’s frosh-soph coach before replacing varsity head coach Nick Skala in the skipper’s chair recently (a school official, when asked by the Daily Herald, did not give a reason for Skala’s midseason exit).

Kosuke Sakamoto and Matteo Nolasco lead the team with 25 hits each, while Frank Costabile pitched 5 innings and allowed 2 hits in the Warren win.

Sorkin lauded the work of leadoff man Sakamoto, who is hitting .357. “Kosuke has consistently been a spark for the offense in the leadoff spot,” he said.

Vernon Hills update: Assistant coach Tyler Lawson had high praise for the recent mound exploits of Ethan Zbylut and Trevor Todd.

“Ethan and Trevor have ben lights out on the mound as of late,” he said. “When they are on the bump, we can rely on them to get their job done. They have low ERAs combined with a high strikeout percentage and grit.”

Vernon Hills (8-17, 4-7 Central Suburban North) recently swept Maine East and Zbylut fanned 8 and allowed 2 hits in a 2-1 win over Niles West. Zbylut has 44 strikeouts in 34 innings, while Ryan Mick has a 0.84 ERA. Robert Miller has struck out 48 in 31 innings.

Nate Dugan (.340 hitting) and Connor Brockway (.300) have been strong at the plate for the Cougars.

Warren Township update: Coach Clint Smothers noted the Blue Devils have played five 1-run games and lost 3 recent games by 1 run each. Warren started the week 15-9 and 6-4 in North Suburban action.

“We are competing with great teams, but still can’t put together a full game,” Smothers said. “We are young and are going to make some mistakes, but we need to limit the free runs.”

Junior Braylan McCarthy has been a force on both sides of the equation, hitting .368, while going 4-2 on the mound with 1 save to go with a 1.21 ERA and 41 strikeouts.

Senior Zack Ausburn is hitting .348, while senior Ethan Cole is at .328. Warren also has been helped by the mound work of sophomore Mason Palmer (1-2, 2 saves, 1.46 ERA, 35 K) and Peyton Balanag (4-2, 2.62 ERA, 36 K).

Wauconda update: The Bulldogs rolled into this week on a 6-game winning streak and found itself at 14-11 overall and 7-6 in NLCC play.

Luke Sickmeir (.507 hitting) and Ryan Fostiak (.477 hitting), along with Pat Shannon (5-0 on the mound) have been key cogs for Wauconda.