Eagles' title is picture-perfect

It was a sign of the times.

As Trey Williams lifted up the Class 3A Grayslake North regional championship plaque and steadied it against the wall of the Lakes dugout, at least a dozen or so out-stretched arms aimed camera phones right at it.

Williams' techno-savvy teammates wanted to capture the moment the best way this generation of teenagers knows how.

Hello Motorola Moment.

Of course, this was a moment worth capturing, whether by camera or camera phone.

By edging No. 13 seed Marengo 4-3 Saturday, the fifth-seeded Eagles won the first regional title in the history of the baseball program.

"It feels sweet," said Williams, Lakes' senior second baseman. "I've been on the team since sophomore year. It's really nice to go out with a bang and show that all the hard work we've done has paid off."

Lakes improves to 18-13 and will now face Crystal Lake Central, a 5-4 winner over Huntley at the Huntley regional, at 4:30 on Wednesday in the semifinals of the Grayslake Central sectional.

"I've never coached a bunch of kids that have such great chemistry and that has a lot to do with our seniors," Lakes coach Mark Tschappat said. "We have 11 seniors on this team. They're the first four-year class to graduate from Lakes. They've set a high standard for others to follow."

But it was a sophomore who set the tone for the Eagles.

Pitcher Travis VanderWall went the distance for Lakes and struck out 5 batters while giving up just 3 walks.

VanderWall also had a monster double in the sixth inning that drove in a run and broke up a 1-1 tie.

"Yeah, we like him," Williams joked about VanderWall. "He comes up big. He's a big asset to the team."

By the seventh inning, VanderWall had pitched well over 100 pitches and was starting to feel fatigued. But he says he had come too far to take his eye off the prize.

"I just was like, 'I'm going to finish this out. I want this,' " said VanderWall, whose record on the mound improves to 5-3. "I probably got that from my dad. He's the one who is always telling me I have to keep my head out there (on the mound)."

Besides VanderWall's double, the Eagles' other big play on offense involved a squeeze play in which Aaron Piekarz scored from third on a bunt to the other side by Andrew Highland.

Lakes got its final run in the sixth inning on a similar play when Kevin Kelly brought in Zach Percival from third on a bunt.

"We were just reading the bunts," Tschappat said. "If it goes down an angle, they'll try to score. If it's straight back to the pitcher then they stay (at third).

"Our kids have practiced bunting and it's been our philosophy that that's what we do: bunt and run. That's really why we won the game today."

This is Lakes' second win of the year over Marengo. The two teams also met during the regular season.

But the Eagles knew this would be a much tougher version of the Indians, who finished 16-10 on the season. Marengo came into the regional title game fresh off a huge upset victory over No. 4 Vernon Hills, the top-seeded team in the regional.

"It was a good run," said Marengo pitcher Max Tucker, who did what he could to help his cause with a home run that hit off the scoreboard in left field in the third inning.