Lake County baseball notes: Grayslake Central wins third straight NLCC title
Grayslake Central is first in the clubhouse in terms of league hardware.
The Rams started the week 23-5 and already clinched the Northern Lake County Conference title with a 15-0 mark. It's Central's third NLCC title in a row.
Central also saw its 20-game winning streak come to an end after a 2-2 week that saw it lose games to Richmond-Burton and Stevenson. Central rebounded to down Warren 7-1 last weekend.
The Rams had three conference games scheduled this week, plus nonconference games slated against Lake Zurich and a Libertyville squad that was playing for the North Suburban Conference title this week.
"Our goal every year is to play the IHSA-allotted 35 games, even if it means we are thin on pitching," Central coach Troy Whalen said. "The kids work hard all year and their parents deserve to see them on the playing field. Playing a lot of games during the week, especially now that the sectional seeds and conference is locked up, allows us to play a lot of guys and get them in the game. It's a great way to spend the final week of the regular season from a game standpoint and we will utilize the time we have to continue to practice and get ready for the postseason."
Whalen pointed out Central has seven players hitting over .350, led by Jack Gerbasi, who is hitting .417 with a team-leading 29 hits. He's scored 46 runs on the season and leads the team with 3 home runs. Adam Fitzgerald leads the team in RBI with 27 and is hitting .354. He's third on the team in total hits with 24. Fellow senior infielder Garrett Guenther is at .373 and is second on the team in RBI with 25 and second in hits with 27. Senior Riley Policht is second in runs (32) and sports a .353 batting average.
On the hill, Will Schufreider, Colin Kornit and Chris Rogers have combined for 14 wins and have combined to strike out 125 in only 82 innings with only Schufreider eclipsing 30 innings (33). Each has an ERA lower than 2.00. In addition to what Whalen calls "The Big 3," Nolan Mussay, Fikret Durmus, Max Woll, Zack Antonucci and Max Motykie have combined to throw more than 80 innings with Mussay, Durmus and Woll each having a pair of wins.
"We felt coming into the season pitching depth would be a strength, and thus far it has been and we will need it to continue," Whalen said. "We've had 1 complete game (Schufreider) all season and I am not a fan of high pitch counts. All our pitchers go into each game knowing there is a cap in terms to the amount of pitches they will throw, and we typically throw at least three guys a game."
Whalen added his group continues to bring a focus and energy on a regular basis, "and they really enjoy playing for each other," he said. "Mid-May heading into June is always the best part of the high school baseball season. Our games will be packed with alumni home from college and the weather hopefully continues to get better. It's an exciting atmosphere and will only get more exciting as postseason play begins next week."
Postseason outlook:
In Class 4A, Lake County area teams are scattered here, there and everywhere.
As part of the Carpentersville Dundee-Crown sectional, No. 7 seed Round Lake opens against No. 2 McHenry at the D-C regional. Grant is the No. 4 sectional seed and opens play against regional host Elgin Larkin (No. 6).
As part of the Mundelein sectional, regional-host and No. 3 seed Warren opens with No. 14 Highland Park, while Stevenson, as the No. 1 sectional seed, hosts a regional and awaits the winner of No. 17 Waukegan or No. 16 Zion in a North Suburban Conference rematch. The Hoffman Estates regional features North Suburban action with No. 7 Mundelein opening against No. 10 Lake Zurich.
No. 5 Mundelein sectional seed Libertyville opens with No. 12 Palatine at the Conant regional.
In Class 3A, all Lake County teams funnel into the Grayslake Central sectional. At Crystal Lake South, No. 14 Lakes faces the hosts and No. 3-seeded Gators, while No. 5 Saint Viator faces No. 11 Grayslake North.
At Antioch, No. 4 Lake Forest goes against No. 13 Wauconda, while No. 6 Antioch welcomes No. 12 seed Crystal Lake Central.
Over at Vernon Hills, No. 2 seed Grayslake Central faces the host Cougars (No. 16 seed), while Carmel (No. 7 seed) faces Deerfield (No. 10 seed).
Stevenson update:
The Patriots entered an important week playing top-notch baseball, sitting at 24-7 overall and 10-2 in North Suburban action ahead of the team's two-game league-title-deciding series against Libertyville.
The Patriots, who recorded a recent 6-3 win over Northern Lake County Conference kingpin Grayslake Central, have been powered of late by the likes of Colin Schmitke, JR Nelson and Nick Rayyan. Schmitke is hitting .500 since moving to the leadoff position, while Nelson started the week leading the team in RBI. Rayyan came out of the pen to throw 3 1/3 innings of strong relief, allowing only 2 hits and fanning six against Grayslake Central.
"We have been unselfish on offense," said Patriots coach Nick Skala, whose team averaged 11.1 runs per game during a 12-game stretch that started April 24.
In addition to the Libertyville series, Stevenson finishes up the regular season with ballgames against Prairie Ridge and Evanston.
"Tough schedule to finish," Skala noted.
Chris Iannuzzi was leading the Patriots in hitting at .422 with 35 hits, 8 doubles, 4 homers and 32 RBI to go with 32 runs scored and 14 walks. Joe Richardson was at .414 with 41 hits, 14 doubles, a home run and 27 RBI, while JR Nelson was hitting .370 with 34 hits, 12 doubles, 1 homer, 31 RBI and just 10 strikeouts in 107 plate appearances.
Libertyville update:
Speaking of the Wildcats, they started the week 16-11-2 overall and were tied with Stevenson at 10-2 in NSC play.
Quinn Schambow was hitting .412 with 10 doubles, 4 triples, 1 homer and 26 RBI, while Graham Goodman was at .348 with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 19 RBI. Michael Scarpelli was 3-0 with a 1.72 ERA to go with 63 strikeouts against only 12 walks. Josh Holst was 5-0 with a 2.82 ERA and 53 strikeouts.
"We are excited for this week and the playoffs," Libertyville coach Matt Thompson said.
Lake Zurich update:
Coach Scott DeCaprio's squad stood at 10-11 overall and 4-6 in North Suburban play to begin the week.
The Bears dropped an 11-inning marathon at Mundelein.
"We had a tough series against Mundelein that had us losing in 11 innings at their place and blew a sixth-inning lead, but we are right there competing," DeCaprio said. "We need to be able to finish the big games. We are one big hit a game away from that."
Lucas Foley pitched 7 innings in the first game against Mundelein, giving up no earned runs.
Riley O'Donnell also has been tearing it up of late, pumping his batting average up to .410.
"Riley has been on fire," DeCaprio said.
Ryan Konrad leads the team in hitting at .424, while Foley started the week 5-0 with a save and had fanned 81 while issuing only 11 free passes. Lake Zurich also has been bolstered by the play of catchers Riley O'Donnell and AJ Foley.
"Riley and AJ have made it hard to keep either of them out of the lineup," the coach said.
Antioch update:
The Sequoits started the week 16-10-1 overall and 7-8 in Northern Lake County play. Antioch lost its league series to Wauconda and dropped a 3-2 nonconference game to Mundelein.
TJ Schuyler started the plate hitting .438 (.553 slug) with 32 hits, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 17 RBI and 24 runs scored.
"TJ has been a monster at the plate, leading our team in every offensive category," Antioch coach Frank Fracek noted.
Fracek also likes how Aiden Niemczyk, Nate Yeager and Quade Moll have been playing. "Aiden, Nate and Quade have been helping our team and making huge strides," he explained. "Aiden has picked it up at the plate with Nate settling in on the mound. Quade has been our jack of all trades defensively, and we are now starting to get offensive contributions from him."
Fracek added Antioch has been up and down over the last few weeks. "We have not been playing as well defensively as we did earlier in the season," he said. "We have to focus on cleaning it up defensively to allow our offense the chance to get going. We are focused on playing clean baseball heading into the playoffs. We have six regular-season games left until we open the playoffs with Crystal Lake Central. Our team is trying to stay healthy and working had to play a balanced game."
Warren update:
Coach Clint Smothers' Blue Devils continue to improve. Warren was 21-7 to start the week after a sweep of Lake Forest (10-0 and 9-0) in NSC action and a 7-1 loss to NLCC leader Grayslake Central.
Charlie Badgley continues to lead the team with a .421 batting average, "and everything else this year," Smothers said. Tony Font started the week hitting .396, while Adam Schilz was at .387. Adam Behrens was 6-0 to start the week on the mound with 64 strikeouts in 42 innings to go with a 2.30 ERA.
"We have to have consistent pitching to win this last week," Smothers noted. "Our 2, 3, 4 and 5 have to get ahead in the count and be able to throw all three pitches for strikes at any time. When we do that, we are very successful and we don't usually struggle. It's a big week for our pitchers."
Wauconda update:
The Bulldogs started the week 11-12-1 overall and sat in second place in Northern Lake County play with a 10-6 mark. Last week, Wauconda went 2-1 with Antioch (13-0 win, 7-4 loss, 12-0 win) and defeated Round Lake (12-6). The Bulldogs also lost to Grayslake Central 9-1 Monday.
Jackson Rudolph was leading the Bulldogs offensively, hitting .439 with 25 hits and 14 RBI. Colin Christensen was hitting .418 with 33 hits and 13 RBI, while Zach Threde was at .387 with 24 hits and 27 RBI.
On the mound, Danny Newman was 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 34 2/3 innings. Tyler Tylka was 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA in 32 2/3 innings, while Threde was 3-1 with a 4.69 ERA and had walked only 5 batters in 28 1/3 innings.
Coach Shawn Rudolph noted Wauconda's outfield play has been outstanding recently, specifically tracking down balls in the gap.
"Conner Vanselow in center has done an awesome job and Ryan Fostaik in right has been taking away many extra-base hits by tracking them down and catching them," Rudolph noted.
Rudolph likes where his team is headed going into the postseason.
"We have consistently improved our play every week and have gotten better each week overall," he said. "We are taking lessons learned and applying them to the next situation."
Lakes update:
The Eagles opened the week with an 8-0 loss to Grant, putting them at 11-14 overall and 8-8 in NLCC play.
Lakes swept Grayslake North in a three-game set last week.
"This was a big series for us because we played really good baseball," coach Chris Hoffmann said. "We are looking to finish the last week of the regular season on a positive note heading into the state tournament."
Owen Klosinski leads Lakes in average, hits, doubles and runs scored. He's at .385 with 9 doubles, plus has been a bright spot on the mound, posting a 3.45 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work.
Spencer Kennamann leads the team in RBI with 22 and is hitting .302.
Mundelein update:
Mundelein started the week 17-9 overall and 8-5 in North Suburban action. During a recent five-game run, Chris Callas was 7-for-14 at the plate. Kenny Nanos struck out six in 6 innings of work against Antioch, allowing only 2 earned runs.
Michael Farina was hitting .491 to start the week with 25 runs scored and 9 doubles. Bennett Musser was 3-1 on the mound with a 0.88 ERA to go with 34 strikeouts in 24 innings. He's allowed 3 earned runs all season.
"Michael Farina, just as he did last year, sets the tone for our offense," Mundelein coach Randy Lerner said. "He puts the ball in play and makes things happen. Bennett has become a solid and consistent part of our pitching staff. He has worked hard to have a great second half of the season and is doing just that."
Lerner noted the Mustangs "are finally able to get everyone working in the same direction," he said. "We are understanding our different roles and are ready to fill them as best as we can."