Hibbing, Lakes weather Grayslake North
On paper, it looked to be a tough day for Grayslake North. Monday’s schedule called for coach Andy Strahan’s baseball team to travel to Lakes High School. Not only was the weather downright cold, but facing the Knights was Lakes’ top pitcher Nick Hibbing.
And despite 5 innings of 1-hit ball from the fireballing Hibbing, this nonconference game wasn’t settled until the seventh inning.
Lakes evened its season mark at 3-3 with a well-played 3-2 win.
“It was tough day to be a hitter,’’ said Lakes coach Ray Gialo. “But there were some balls put in play.”
Officially earning the game-winning hit was Lakes’ seventh-place hitter, Jake Wisniewski. He plated the game’s first run in the second inning, chasing home A.J. Metzger.
“I was down in the count,’’ Wisniewski said. “I just waited for a pitch and pulled it.”
Wisniewski doesn’t mind batting seventh for the Eagles.
“I get time to see the pitcher,’’ he said.
Gialo wasn’t surprised to see Wisniewski come through in the clutch.
“Jake has done that before,’’ Gialo said. “Today, he got the big hit. Any time we get production from the bottom of the order it’s a good thing. We like our guys down there.”
With Hibbing breezing, the Eagles put two more runs on the board in the fourth inning. Jake Brown, batting sixth, drove in Paul Kukulka with the second run. A wild pitch gave the Eagles a seemingly safe 3-0 advantage.
North (1-5) made a game of it in the sixth. Adam Gomski’s double gave the Knights two runners in scoring position. Colin Laughlin’s second hit of the game chased home CJ Bailey with the first run. Andrew Soulis’ RBI groundout made this a 1-run game.
“Colin has been sharing third base,’’ said North coach Andy Strahan. “He hit the ball well today.”
Strahan was pleased to his team battle hard against the Iowa-bound Hibbing.
“We saw him last year,’’ Strahan said. “He was throwing in the upper 80s. I thought we had some good at-bats against him. But we couldn’t get the big hit.”
In the North seventh, Brandon Fern’s bloop hit gave the Knights hope. But left-hander Robbie Thompson put out the fire for the Eagles win.
Lakes leadoff hitter Chris Hoffman had nothing to show for three line shots to North center fielder Soulis. Hoffman chased Soulis to the fence in the first inning.
“He must have six line outs to center field this year,’’ Gialo said. “We’ve told him, they will fall in for him soon.”