Lake County baseball notes: Libertyville, Grayslake Central win respective conference races, turn focus to postseason

With both main conference baseball races already decided — Libertyville winning the North Suburban outright earlier this week and Grayslake Central winning its fifth Northern Lake County crown in a row — let’s quickly focus on next week’s IHSA state playoffs.

In Class 3A, all 7 Lake County-area entrants are part of the Grayslake Central sectional. No. 14 seed Vernon Hills faces No. 3 seed Crystal Lake South May 28 in the Crystal Lake South regional, while No. 5 Lakes faces No. 11 Crystal Lake Central May 29 at South.

No. 8 Wauconda faces No. 10 Lake Forest next Thursday at the Prairie Ridge regional, while Grayslake North (No. 17 seed) gets some Memorial Day action at 11 a.m. in a play-in game against No. 16 seed Woodstock at famed Emericson Park in Woodstock.

No. 2 seed Grayslake Central takes on either No. 18 Harvard or No. 15 Woodstock North as part of the Deerfield regional next Wednesday, while No. 6 Antioch and No. 12 Carmel face off next Thursday at the Antioch regional.

In Class 4A, No. 8 Lake Zurich and No. 9 Warren Township play next Thursday at the Fremd regional, while No. 4 Mundelein and No. 13 Wheeling compete in the Palatine regional next Wednesday. No. 2 seed Libertyville faces either No. 18 Waukegan or No. 16 Hoffman Estates at Hoffman Estates next Wednesday, while No. 11 Stevenson and No. 6 Prospect play next Thursday at Prospect. All of this feeds into the Stevenson sectional the following week.

Grant hosts a regional where No. 2 Barrington and No. 8 Round Lake play next Wednesday and the No. 4 seed Bulldogs and No. 5 Dundee-Crown play next Thursday as part of the McHenry sectional.

Lake Zurich update: The Bears (20-9, 9-3 North Suburban) started the week on a 7-game winning streak, and winners of 14 of the last 17 with key wins against Mundelein and Huntley.

Cash Kaczmarek leads Lake Zurich with a .412 batting average, while Owen Strahl has a team-high 35 RBI. Josh Marzec and Colin Chung both threw a complete-game against Warren, while Chung also went 4-for-5 against St. Viator recently.

Antioch update: Antioch recorded recent wins against Grayslake North and Vernon Hills to move to 19-11-1 overall (9-6 Northern Lake County). Carson Young is 6-1 on the mound with a 1.65 ERA to go with 62 strikeouts in 46 innings. He’s allowed only 11 earned runs. Evan Schmidt is hitting .456 (1.294 OPS) with 39 hits, 16 doubles, 4 homers, 27 RBI and 23 runs scored.

Coach Frank Fracek also has been thrilled with Nathan Yeager and Jackson Mozina at the top of the Sequoits’ order. “They have been setting the table for us and helping to wake up our offense,” he said. “They are both 3-year varsity starters who have been unreal for us in the outfield. Their level of play over the years has been something we take for granted because they catch everything.”

Fracek said his squad is still far from its best. “We have had flashes all season, but I still do not think we have had a run where we dominate in all phases of the game,” he said. “We are slowly getting there and continue to strive for excellence, but we hope that this group can finally hit that next level as the playoffs near.”

Grayslake Central update: Central has 5 pitchers who have logged between 20-28 innings, led by Nathan Fuko with 31 (2-0, 4 saves). Junior Luke Eckenstahler is 2-1 with 23 strikeouts in 19 innings. “Luke has come out of the pen strong lately as a hard-throwing righty,” Central coach Troy Whalen noted. “We come at teams with different looks throughout the game.”

Seniors Cal Hanson (.445, 31 hits, 15 extra-base, 31 RBI), Ian McGowan (.395, team-high 32 RBI) and Trevor Meathe (.385, team-best 35 runs, 21 steals) and junior Carson Woods (.360, 30 runs, 15 steals) lead the way offensively for the Rams (24-6, 14-1 NLCC), while senior Colton Ohm has raised his average to .377 to go with 3 homers, 21 RBI and 8 doubles. Ohm also is 4-1 on the mound and recently pitched 5 scoreless innings and struck out nine against Lakes.

“Our depth and balance, both offensively and defensively, have led the way thus far,” Whalen said.

Whalen, whose team is the No. 2 seed in its own sectional, terms the Grayslake Central slate of teams the “toughest 3A sectional in the state,” he said.

Grayslake North update: Mitchell Hughes has been strong at the plate, hitting .333 (.627 slugging) with 11 doubles, 5 homers and 21 RBI. JD Novacek leads the team with a .489 on-base percentage, while Timmy Schaap has fanned 37 in 34 innings and has a 3.71 ERA. North (6-23, 4-12 NLCC) recently beat Antioch 6-4.

Lakes update: The Eagles started the week with a 2.53 staff ERA. “Our pitching staff as a whole has done well this season,” Lakes coach Chris Hoffman said.

Senior Owen Klosinski is hitting .469 (.549 on-base, 1.228 OPS) with 4 doubles, 5 triples, 1 homer and 16 RBI for the Eagles (19-10, 10-5 Northern Lake County to start the week).

Libertyville update: A win over Warren Monday secured the North Suburban title for the Wildcats (27-4, 12-1 NSC). Quinn Schambow leads Libertyville offensively at .483 with 16 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer and 35 RBI to go with 18 walks. Ryan Wilberding is hitting .448 with 3 doubles and 3 home runs. Cole Lockwood is at .405 with 7 doubles, 1 triple and 3 homers and has 29 steals.

On the mound, Josh Holst is 8-0 with a 1.52 ERA (0.82 WHIP, 74 K in 41 1/3 innings, 9 earned runs), while Chase Lockwood is 7-0 with a 1.34 ERA (0.84 WHIP, 41 K in 36 2/3 innings, 7 earned runs).

Mundelein update: The Mustangs (21-7-2, 9-4 North Suburban) recently handed Fremd its first loss.

Caden Earing is hitting .443 with 3 homers, 27 RBI, 28 runs and 17 walks (39 hits, 16 doubles, 3 triples, 1.345 OPS), while Baris Brua has fanned 60 in 45 innings (16 walks) and is 4-3 with a 1.24 ERA. Brua is 2-1 in his last 3 starts where he posted a 0.82 ERA with 20 strikeouts, 5 walks and 2 earned runs allowed. Sean Sanderson went 5-for-9 during a recent stretch with a double, a triple and 7 RBI.

Stevenson update: The Patriots (16-16, 6-7 North Suburban) recently put together a 4-game winning streak and also had a key victory over Grayslake Central.

Frank Costabile leads the Stevenson pitching staff with a 0.71 ERA. He fanned 12 against Lake Zurich and 14 against Zion-Benton. “Frank has been pitching very well,” interim coach Brad Sorkin said.

Kosuke Sakamoto (.400 hitting) and Matteo Nolasco (.340 hitting) have been consistent with the bat. “Kosuke has been a spark to our offense in the leadoff spot and Matteo has been another consistent hitter,” Sorkin noted.

Vernon Hills update: Connor Brockway (team-leading .321 batting average) and Ethan Zbylut (.304) both earned all-Central Suburban North honors recently for the Cougars (11-21, 6-9 CSL North).

In a recent CSL crossover game against Deerfield (3-1 win), Zbylut and Robert Miller were cited for strong pitching efforts. Miller has fanned 59 in 41 innings.

Warren Township update: Senior Jack Wolf is hitting a team-best .347 with 5 doubles and 1 homer. Senior Ethan Cole is right behind him at .342 with 20 RBI. Braylan McCarthy has struck out 51 in 45 innings, while Peyton Balanag has 43 strikeouts in 45 innings of work for the Blue Devils (18-12, 6-6 North Suburban).