Baseball: Twardock, Grayslake Central deliver against Grayslake North

Baseball humbled Wednesday, and losing coach Brett Hill was OK with that after his Grayslake North squad struck out 14 times, committed 5 errors and was victimized by a 9-3 putout.

Grayslake Central right fielder Nate Twardock can take credit for the last stat.

"That's what I love about baseball," Hill said. "It's a very humbling game."

Grayslake North couldn't have been feeling much better a day earlier after Adam Calhoun pitched a gem, helping the host Knights open Northern Lake County play with a win over defending conference champ Grayslake Central, which started Northwestern-bound Coby Moe on the mound. But the rematch was all Grayslake Central, as three pitchers combined to allow 4 hits in the host Rams' 8-1 win.

Marcus Maristela and Joseph Webster each had 2 hits for Grayslake Central (5-2, 1-1), which returns to Grayslake North (3-3, 1-1) on Friday to complete the three-game series.

"I thought we grinded out the at-bats better today," said coach Troy Whalen, whose Rams scored in every inning. "We had some timely hits."

The Rams had good pitching, too.

Starter Tyler Marson allowed 1 run (on back-to-back doubles by Trace Taskovic and Matt Heery in the third) in 3 innings, striking out six. Fellow senior righty Ethan Peterson then collected 7 strikeouts in 3 no-hit innings of relief. Sean Gniadek, another senior right-hander, struck out one in his lone inning.

"Tyler battled the first three innings, and then Ethan came in and he's got some electric stuff," said Whalen, who's figuring out which of his pitchers will fill out his rotation behind returning ace Moe. "(Joking) It's like a Las Vegas nightclub (act). It's 'Coby and the others.' We got some nice arms and hopefully during the year guys are going to step up and emerge in that spot. EP (Peterson) has always been a reliever. He was kind of our closer last year."

Twardock also pitches for the Rams and showed off his arm in the Grayslake North fourth. With two out, Knights' No. 2 hitter Matt Rennolds lined an opposite-field shot into right field off Peterson. Twardock charged the ball, snagged it on a bounce and threw out Rennolds at first base.

Moe, the first baseman, scooped the ball to just nip Rennolds.

"My arm has been bothering me a little bit so I was a little nervous about (making the throw)," Twardock said. "We were playing in. The wind's not blowing out, but I didn't want anything dropping in front. It was hit really hard so I knew I had a chance on it. I got a good hop. Bad throw, but I got picked up by Coby. That was a really good pick."

Twardock was greeted by plenty of high-fives from teammates.

"It got the kids going a little bit, I think," Whalen said.

While 9-3 putouts are rare, Twardock looks for the opportunity to make them.

"One-hundred percent," Twardock said. "That's what I'm ready for every single time. It's easier with slow runners, but (Rennolds) is pretty fast. We were also up 4-1 at the time. Why not make a play?"

"Matt's not a slow runner," Hill said. "Good job by (Twardock). I saw him come in. He lined himself up. He was ready for that play. Matt's a good athlete. (Twardock) just made a really nice play on a hard-hit ball."

Maristela and Antonio Crews had back-to-back doubles for Grayslake Central in the third off Knights starter Jason Donohue, and Kevin O'Brien's RBI single later in the inning padded the Rams' lead to 4-1. The hosts also got RBIs from Moe (sacrifice fly) and Alexander Berry (run-scoring single).

The Rams' pitching did the rest.

"These (pitchers) sat behind seniors last year," Whalen said. "They've paid their dues."