Libertyville edges Highland Park

It’s debatable what zapped more energy out of the Libertyville baseball team on Saturday.

Work or play.

The Wildcats fought hard to get a 4-2 nonconference victory over visiting Highland Park that moved them to 8-5 on the season.

But they were able to do that only after they huffed and puffed all over the field for a few hours early that morning trying to get it suitable for a game.

A torrential downpour on Friday night left Libertyville’s field soggy and soupy. Saturday’s game, originally scheduled for a 10 a.m. start, was delayed until about 1 p.m. so that the Wildcats could work drying agents into the infield and bail standing water out of low spots in the outfield.

“We got out here at about 8 this morning and we were in the (batting) cages a little bit and there were some (groundskeepers) out there on the field working and it was just them at first,” Libertyville shortstop AJ Schurr said. “But then we all realized how bad the field was and we knew we had to help them out.

“When you stepped on the field, you sank. The infield and the areas behind third base and short and second were really bad. We brought probably 50 bags of (drying agent) out and we were spreading it everywhere we could with the rakes.”

Schurr said that half the players lineup up on the third base foul line and the other half lined up on the first base foul line, all with rakes in hand. They dragged the infield back and forth with the drying agent until they met up at second base.

“It took a lot of work to get the field ready, but it was pretty fun, too,” Libertyville pitcher Dar Townsend said. “We were joking around and singing songs. The field ended up looking pretty nice.”

So did Townsend.

He started the game on the mound for the Wildcats and went five full innings, giving up just 2 hits and allowing only 1 walk. He also recorded 5 strikeouts.

Townsend’s only misstep came when he served up a home run ball to Highland Park pitcher Christian Biondi in the second inning. Biondi’s 2-run homer sailed over the left-field fence and onto Route 176.

That gave the Giants (8-8) a 2-0 lead.

“I was just looking for a first-pitch fastball and I got it,” Biondi said of his first home run of the season. “It turned out good, even though the wind was blowing in.”

Townsend quickly blew off the homer and finished strong, allowing only one base runner over his next three innings on the mound.

“I felt pretty good,” said Townsend, who moves to 3-1. “I made a mistake (the home run) but you just have to shake that off. You can’t let that get to you. You have to bounce back and forget about it. We use the term ‘amnesia’ a lot.”

Townsend didn’t forget to mention his teammates in his post game comments. He was thrilled with the Wildcats’ ability to string together some clutch hits and runs off of Biondi, whose record on the mound drops to 3-3.

Jake Duguid and Trevor Freberg began the third inning with back-to-back singles and eventually scored to tie the game at 2-2.

In the fourth inning, Anthony Mack and Townsend got on right away and were eventually brought in by Freberg and Davis Ogilvie, respectively.

Freberg reached on an error and Ogilvie drove in Townsend on a sacrifice bunt.

“We executed and forced the defense to make a play,” Libertyville coach Jim Schurr said. “We put the pressure on them.”

With the victory, Libertyville won the Sterny Classic, which is the name of the annual series between the Wildcats and Highland Park.

The two teams battle for a trophy that was created in honor of Gregg Sternaman, who died in 2009. Sternaman coached baseball at both Highland Park and Libertyville.