Stroup stars in Grant's doubleheader sweep

Grant's baseball team set the tone early, thanks to a dominating performance on the mound by Kyle Stroup.

The Bulldogs defeated Round Lake 11-1 and 9-3 in a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division doubleheader.

In the first game, Stroup struck out nine of the first 11 batters he faced and tallied 13 strikeouts on the day.

He also allowed just 1 hit.

Stroup helped his cause offensively with 2 hits, both doubles. He drove in 2 runs.

Meanwhile, Gerik Wallsten went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. A.J. Spohr also had 3 hits, including a double.

Jeremy Wiker added another double for the Bulldogs.

Stroup came up big in the second game as well, nailing 2 home runs. On the game, he went 2-for-3 and drove in 4 runs.

Stroup now has 7 home runs on the season.

Wallsten also went 2-for-3 and, like the first game, again had 2 doubles.

Ryan Magnuson had a triple and Thomas Gier added a double.

On the mound, Grant (10-14) got a solid performance out of Adam Ticker, who rolled up 9 strikeouts in going the distance.

For Round Lake, David Ershbock had a double.

Libertyville 4, Palatine 3: Pitcher Brooks McDowell rolled up 9 strikeouts to lead the Wildcats to the victory.

Tim Matheson and Chase Guarnaccio each had 2 hits for the Wildcats, who move to 21-9 on the season.

Grayslake Central 4, Johnsburg 1: Sophomore pitcher Kevin DeRue ran his record to 4-1 in leading the Rams to a victory.

DeRue pitched a complete game and rolled up 6 strikeouts.

"We needed a special performance today and Kevin gave us one," said Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen, whose team moves to 16-10 (4-6 Fox Valley Fox) on the season.

Marian Central 11, Lakes 6: Lakes was plagued with 5 errors in the nonconference loss.

The Eagles were down 11-0 by the time they cam e to bat in the fourth inning.

Lakes (13-12) got doubles from both D.J. Szuhay and Haris Nayani.

Huntley 3, Grayslake N. 0: The Knights dropped to 8-14 overall with the loss.

Grayslake North got 5 hits from five players -- Jordan Field, Clay Henricksen, Jim Butler, Stephen Kalina and Brandon Schroth.

Libertyville 9, Deerfield 2: On Friday, Libertyville pounded out 13 hits en route to the nonconference victory.

Tim Matheson and Joey Aiello each had 2 hits. Aiello homered and Matheson got a double.

Pitcher Jacob Booden got the win.

Softball

Lake Zurich gets sweep: Pitcher Katie Buczynski went 2-0 on the day to lead Lake Zurich to a 1-0, 4-1 doubleheader victory over Cary-Grove.

In the first game, Buczynski had 12 strikeouts and walked just 2 batters.

Offensively for the Bears, Coryn Schmit belted a home run, her third of the year.

Meanwhile, Chrissie Wichmann, Kyra Boyer and Brittany Stezskal all added doubles.

In the second game, Buczynski rolled up 6 strikeouts.

The Bears got 2 hits out of Alex Block, one of which was a triple.

Stezskal and Kim Lacke added doubles.

Vernon Hills splits: Vernon Hills started strong but didn't finish that way in splitting a nonconference doubleheader with York, 3-2, 2-3.

The Game-2 defeat snapped the Cougars' 20-game winning streak.

In the first game, Vernon Hills got a solid performance out of pitcher Jackie Allen, who moved her record on the mound to 16-1 by rolling up 8 strikeouts and allowing just 1 walk.

Offensively, Erin Christensen, Anastasia Guletsky and Jessica Schwartz each had 2 hits. Schwartz, who was just recently called up to varsity, hit her second homer.

In the second game, Vernon Hills (26-4) got 2 hits out of Marci Pasquesi.

Grayslake Central 5, Crystal Lake Central 4: Alison Johnson pounded a home run to lead the Rams to victory.

Kelly Silver and Abbie Goetsch added doubles.

In the circle, Monika Wedick got the win.

Antioch goes 2-2 at quad: Antioch won two of its four games at the Harlem Quad.

The Sequoits defeated Dundee-Crown (9-5) and Richmond Burton (10-4) but lost to Harlem (6-2) and Zion-Benton (7-5).

Against Dundee-Crown, Allie Anttila homered while Lindsay Callanan went 3-for-4 with a double and Candice Schmidt went 2-for-4 with a triple.

Against Richmond Burton, Angela Marescalco went 2-for-4 with a double and Melisa Ori went 3-for-4 with a triple.

Against Harlem, Sammie Seamon had 2 hits and Anttila doubled.

Girls soccer

Mundelein gets 2 wins: At Champaign Centennial, Mundelein got a pair of wins -- 4-0 over Mahomet-Seymour and 9-0 over Centennial.

The Mustangs improve to 14-2-4.

Against Mahomet-Seymour, Courtney Bestler and Ashley Begrowicz each had a goal and an assist.

Michelle Rowley and Jennifer Miranda also scored goals.

Against Centennial, Lindsay Benedeck, Shayne Carroll and Rowley all scored 2 goals each. Rowley also had an assist.

Bestler led the way with 2 assists.

Boys volleyball

Vernon Hills wins again: Vernon Hills won its own Cougar Classic for the third straight year.

The Cougars (21-12) defeated Glenbard West in the championship match 25-22, 20-25, 25-14.

Vernon Hills went 4-1 on the day, also defeating Larkin (25-21, 25-11), Montini (25-13, 25-21) and Highland Park (25-23, 25-22). The lone loss came to Glenbard West in pool play (27-25, 25-20).

On the day, Ernie Choi led the way for the Cougars with 35 kills. Teammates Keegan Harris and Herman Lynn each added 27 kills.

Lynn also had a team-high 10 blocks while Choi and Sam Lee tallied 3 service aces.

Defensively for Vernon Hills, Jeff Achler rolled up 73 digs, setting the school record for digs in the process.

Meanwhile, Choi led the way in assists with 87 while Alex Brodsky added 36.

Deerfield Invite: Libertyville finished fourth, going 2-3 on the day.

The Wildcats defeated Joliet Township (22-25, 25-14, 25-22) and Addison Trail (27-25, 25-18) but lost to Deerfield (16-25, 22-25), St. Charles North (14-25, 23-25) and Providence (10-25, 24-26).

Girls lacrosse

Vernon Hills 17, Glenbrook North 7: Taryn Abbassian rolled up 5 goals to lead the Cougars to a second-round playoff victory.

Christine Curtin, Shelly Raupp, Sarah Milligan and Erin O'Donnell also scored for Vernon Hills.

Defensively, Kelsey Wolff, Brook Ericsen and Sam Tomino were all solid and goalie Irene Ginakakis stopped 9 shots.

Fremd 16, Lake Zurich 14: Fremd needed overtime to outlast the Bears.

For Lake Zurich, Mary Handrahan scored a team-high 7 goals and also tallied 2 assists.

Meanwhile, teammates Anna Schlueter and Kate Lancelot added 3 goals.

Lake Zurich goalie Janalyn rolled up 17 saves.

Stevenson loses in second round: After getting a 9-8 win over Benet in the first round of the IHSWLA state playoffs, Stevenson dropped its second round game to St. Ignatius, 16-5.

Boys tennis

FVC meet: Mike Williamson didn't need candles, a cake and a party to celebrate his 18th birthday.

A second straight Fox Valley Conference singles championship was enough of a gift.

The Dundee-Crown senior defeated Jim Capalbo of Crystal Lake Central 6-3, 6-2 to claim the FVC No. 1 singles title for a second straight year Saturday in Crystal Lake.

"It was a great day," said the D-C senior. "To win my second straight conference championship on my birthday is exciting. Jim is very quick and is an excellent player. He is a fighter. My power serve wasn't there today so I had to place my serve."

Williamson defeated Craig Greenwald of Prairie Ridge 6-1, 6-2 in a semifinal match.

Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake Central tied for the championship with 145 points. The total is based on conference dual meets and this weekend's conference meet. It is the Wolves' fourth straight conference title.

"Crystal Lake Central was favored so we are very happy with a co-championship," said PR coach Jessica Fetzner. "We played very well in the tournament and our great doubles depth was obvious."

Grayslake North placed ninth with a score of 68. The Knights were led by a third place from Matt Davis at No. 3 singles.

Grayslake Central, with fourth place finishes from Roy Pienaar (No. 3 singles) and Mitch Granger (No. 1 singles), finished 10th with a score of 67.