Baseball: Libertyville remains undefeated with five-inning victory against Buffalo Grove
Libertyville has things really going its way right now.
The Wildcats (9-0) continued on their early-season roll Friday with a 5-inning, 11-1 victory over Buffalo Grove in Libertyville.
“We have started out playing real well,” said Libertyville coach Matt Thompson, whose team won its spring tournament in Arizona. “We played well in Arizona. Honestly, the bats have started out hot.”
The Wildcats may be able to trace their success thus far to the disappointment of being eliminated in the sectionals last season.
“We have been playing together since we were kids,” said Quinn Schambow, who will play at Oklahoma State next year. “We are pretty locked in and having fun. Playing the game is the most important thing. We trust each other and we trust the guy behind us.”
The Wildcats scored at least one run in each of their five at-bats against Buffalo Grove.
In the first inning Cole Lockwood doubled and scored on his brother Chase’s single. Ryan Wilberding later singled and scored on Carson Holmes’ double to make it 2-0.
Buffalo Grove (2-7-1), which picked up a win Thursday over Deerfield, scored its only run of the game in its half of the second inning. Owen Erickson singled and scored on Jordan Dudek’s single to cut the lead to 2-1.
Libertyville put the game away in its next at-bat.
Zachary Seiler and Johnny Leoris each walked. Seiler scored on Schambow’s double. Leoris scored on the first of two sacrifice flies by Cole Lockwood, and Schambow touched home on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.
The Wildcats added single runs in each of the next two innings to increase their lead to 7-1. Leoris had a bases-loaded walk to score Wilberding, and Cole Lockwood walked and scored.
“We are just in a rhythm right now and swinging it well,” said Wilberding, a sophomore. “This year we have got a lot better with more depth. and we are just performing to the caliber we are able to.”
The Wildcats ended the game in the fifth. Leoris drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double. He scored Lockwood’s second sacrifice fly.
“One of our coaches noticed a weakness in my swing,” said Leoris, who had 4 RBI on the day. “So the days leading up to this game I have been working on getting on top of the ball and not trying to do too much. And it paid off when it mattered.”
Thompson said that the depth of his team is making lineup decisions difficult at times.
“We are early in the season and playing lots of guys,” Thompson said. “And they are coming through. It is a good problem to have.”
Buffalo Grove coach Bill Montemayor said playing teams like Libertyville in nonconference games is good for his team.
“They are a good ballclub,” Montemayor said. “But it is good for us in the long run to play these kind of teams and be competitive. This will prepare us for conference and the rest of the year. We play teams like this every year. They are in our sectional and that is the type of caliber you have to beat if you want to win a regional.”