Thorsen strikes again as Grant tops Lakes

He struck out nine Wauconda batters in a row last month, has posted a pair of 15-strikeout efforts and whiffed 14 hitters in another ballgame.

Against North Suburban Prairie Division-leading Lakes on Saturday, Grant's slender lefty Ryan Thorsen enjoyed another "K" day in pitching the Bulldogs to a 7-4 win in Fox Lake.

He fanned four in the fifth.

"It's just weird to have 4 strikeouts in one inning," Thorsen said.

Actually, it's not that strange for Thorsen. He says he pulled off the feat last year, too.

What mattered most for him Saturday, however, was that his team won. Grant (12-8-1) improved to 5-2 in the NSC Prairie, while dropping Lakes (17-8) to 7-1 in the division.

"It was very important," Thorsen said of the win, which avenged the Bulldogs' 4-3 defeat Thursday in Lake Villa. "If we had lost, we would have a very slight chance of winning the division."

Lakes trailed 6-0 after three innings but fought back thanks to the long ball. The Eagles got solo homers from Kevin Kelly, Wills Massie and Dominic Costa. Massie and Costa went back-to-back in the sixth to pull the visitors within 6-4.

"They do a good job of staying in the game and they think they can win," Lakes coach Bill Rosencrans said of his players. "We've come back before, but that kid, Thorsen, he's a good pitcher. He pitched well."

Thorsen wriggled out of a jam in the fifth. After Ryan Noon reached on a dropped-third strike with one out, Nick Hibbing singled. Thorsen then got his third strikeout before walking Andrew Tubek (2-for-2) to load the bases.

Eric Lopez then reached on a controversial catcher's interference call, forcing in a run.

The umpire claimed Lopez's bat hit catcher Jeremy Wiker's helmet on a foul tip.

"Because it jammed (Lopez) I thought it hit off his finger and the bat at the same time, and that's why it went foul," Thorsen said. "I didn't think it hit (Wiker's) helmet."

A pumped-up Thorsen then struck out cleanup hitter Travis Vanderwall swinging for strikeout No. 4 of the inning.

Grant had given Thorsen runs to work with early. The highlights included Jimi Cokefair's homer on the first pitch he saw from Vanderwall leading off the bottom of the first and Wiker's RBI double in the third. Cokefair and Thomas Gier also had doubles, while Thorsen aided his own cause by going 2-for-2 with a walk.

Ryan Magnuson gave Thorsen another insurance run in the sixth when he reached on an infield RBI single with two out. In the Lakes seventh, Tubek drew a one-out walk but was stranded.

Thorsen finished with 9 strikeouts. He said his fastball was his out pitch.

"I felt I was throwing pretty hard," Thorsen said.

"When he gets his curveball working, then he's really tough," Grant coach Mike Mizwicki said. "At times today he kind of lost his curveball and had to go to a changeup. He gets groundballs on his changeup."