Baseball: Lake Zurich’s bats come alive at Warren

On the bus ride from Lake Zurich to Warren, the message among the contingent of Bears players was simple: play as a team.

“We just came out here and wanted to win,” Lake Zurich outfielder Carson Hamblin said. “We talked on the bus before, let’s just play as a team and hit as a team. I think that really worked for us today.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, the Bears squandered a lead at home against the Blue Devils. On Tuesday afternoon, the Lake Zurich (14-11, 6-6) offense had a dominant showing to tab a 15-4 victory at Warren (17-7, 9-3).

“It was good for us to come out here, bounce back,” Bears coach Derek Parola said. “We had a tough one yesterday, in terms of [we] gave up a lead late. It was a good answer by our guys to come out here.”

Lake Zurich’s bats were hot early. Leading off the contest, Hamblin hit a double and subsequently scored on Blake Zabel’s single. Alex Toth hit a triple to score Zabel for a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, Bears pitcher Colin Chung struck out three batters.

Leading off the top of the second for Lake Zurich, Cooper Kaczmarek doubled and was driven in by Nick Verden. In the next at-bat, Hamblin homered to right-center for a 5-0 lead.

“My confidence right now is as high as it can be,” said Hamblin, who finished the contest going 3-of-4 with three runs and two RBI. “I come in here, battle for my team, and have fun.”

In the third, Connor Schoen’s single scored Nick Audet, and Verden hit a double to bring in Kaczmarek and Schoen. Zabel’s second RBI scored Verden to make it 7-0.

“I think our guys got motivated from yesterday,” Parola said. “We’ve been playing good baseball. They felt like they deserved a chance at winning yesterday. Obviously, it didn’t go our way. It’s a testament to them to show how they bounce back and have something to prove.”

Warren found the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, as Oliver Rojewski scored Braylan McCarthy. The Bears responded in the fifth with three runs. Verden hit a leadoff homer to center, finishing the day going 3-of-3 with a game-high four RBI. Hamblin tallied his third run off a wild pitch, and Toth singled home Zabel.

The Blue Devils escaped a run-rule defeat, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Kyler Loeffler drove home reserves Jalen Crump and Erik Kjeldbjerg, and Matthew Illescas added a run after Rojewski was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to make it 12-4.

“We got some guys in off the bench who deserved to play,” Warren coach Clint Smothers said. “We were down 11, and we get those guys in. They all battled, did well, and kind of made it a game a little bit again.”

Lake Zurich added three runs in the top of the seventh. Toth hit a double to register his third RBI, bringing in Zabel, who scored his third run. Reid Pfeifer capped the win with a two-run home run to left field.

“That’s how baseball is,” Smothers said. “Some days, you come out and play great. Some days, you come out, and things just don’t go your way at all. Credit to them. They did a nice job today.”