Antioch rallies, wins 2

Sometimes an 8-0 deficit just isn't as bad as it seems.

At least not for Antioch's baseball team.

In the first game of a doubleheader against North Suburban Conference Prairie Division rival Wauconda on Saturday, visiting Antioch came back from an 8-0 first-inning deficit to win 14-13.

In the second game, it was more of the same as the Sequoits carried on the momentum in 7-2 win.

Thanks to the wins, Antioch (5-5) remained undefeated at 5-0 in the NSC Prairie. Meanwhile, Wauconda dropped to 5-7, 1-3.

While the first game was a close, the second game was anything but that.

The Sequoits scored three runs in the first inning and four in the second to grab a 7-0 lead. All Wauconda could muster was Jimmy Williams' 2-run homer in the third.

"Coming back and winning in the first game really took the pressure off us," said Antioch's Jim Fracek, who homered in Game 1. "We just went out there and played in the second game because we knew that we would at least split the games."

Junior Andy Danna led off with a triple to start the Sequoits off on the right foot in the second game. Antioch wound up drawing 3 walks in the first and also benefited from 2 errors. Ken Karagiorgas swiped home.

The Sequoits had 5 stolen bases.

"We like to run and steal bases," Antioch coach Paul Petty said. "Our bats woke up in the first game and when that carried over in the second game, we were able to run and play our game."

Danna (3-for-3) started the Sequoits' second-inning rally, as well, this time with a double. Wauconda committed 2 more errors, as the Antioch lead swelled to 7-0. Alec Paramski finished 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.

Antioch's Logan Kent had a particularly good day. In the first game, he jacked his first and second home runs of the season, including a game-winning 2-run shot.

"Winning that first game was huge for us," Kent said. "We've had a lot of games where we start out down 8, 9, 10 runs, and it's so hard to come back from that. Getting a win like that was so important because it carried over to the second game."

In the first game, Antioch scored 12 runs in the fifth and sixth innings. In the sixth, the Sequoits scored eight times Danna, Fracek and Kent all hitting home runs.

While it was far from an ideal afternoon for Wauconda, coach Bill Sliker was pleased with his team's early offense in the first game.

"We got the big hits in the first game, but we just kind of cooled off," Sliker said. "The bright spot was that we kept on competing even after the first loss and even until the seventh inning of the second game."