Fiedelman's flair for finishing frustrates Mundelein

Even more than that fake pickoff move, which self-described "laid-back jokester" Blake Fiedelman says his teammates and coaches love, what Stevenson loves about its junior lefty is his willingness to take the baseball when the pressure is on.

Take Tuesday, for example.

With visiting Mundelein one big hit away from blowing open its North Suburban Lake Division game against Stevenson, Patriots coach Paul Mazzuca called on Fiedelman.

Top of the sixth inning. Bases loaded. One out. Mundelein up a run.

Fiedelman got a strikeout and then a flyout to center field.

A couple of innings later, after Kory Cutler's RBI double in the bottom of the seventh tied the score, Fiedelman was the winning pitcher thanks to Corey Lasky's walk-off single that gave Stevenson a thrilling, 5-4 victory in eight.

It was the 13th straight win for Stevenson (18-1, 6-1). Mundelein fell to 15-4, 4-3.

"It was a good high school game," Mustangs coach Todd Parola said. "I thought it was the type of game that's fun to play in. I know it would have been much better to win it, but it was a fun game."

Fiedelman pitched 22/3 innings of no-hit ball in relief of starter Tyler Radtke.

"He's been thrown into the fire a couple of times," Mazzuca said of Fiedelman. "He's been our guy that in tough situations we'll give it to him, and he likes that."

Fiedelman's preference to relieve is to due, in part, to the fact that he's been closing baseball games since he was a seventh-grader.

"I like pitching in relief, definitely, more than starting," Fiedelman said. "I don't feel the pressure that much. ... I keep everyone (on the team) relaxed, and they keep me relaxed too. We feed off each other. It seems to work."

Mundelein starting pitcher Ben Mahar went the distance, settling down after allowing Erick King's two-out, 2-run single in the bottom of the first that opened the scoring.

"He did a great job," Parola said. "I thought he was efficient."

Mundelein, which got a 2-run single from Mike O'Donoghue in the third and an RBI base hit from Charlie Gandolfi (2-for-4) in the fourth, went ahead in the fifth. Bill McMahon (2-for-4) double to deep center to score Luis Carrasco, and after shortstop O'Donogue and second baseman Chris Langlie turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the Stevenson fifth, Mundelein had all the momentum.

But Fiedelman bailed out Radtke in the sixth, after falling behind the dangerous O'Donoghue 2-0.

"It was really scary," Fiedelman said. "Our shortstop, Kyle Ruchim, just told me to calm down."

No. 9 hitter Michael Martin started Stevenson's seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single and scooted to second on Lasky's sacrifice bunt. Cutler then placed a double just inside the left-field line.

The Patriots manufactured the winning run after two were out in the eighth. Pinch hitter Jacob Sholl and Martin (2-for-4) both singled, before Lasky (2-for-4) pulled a Mahar fastball on the inner half into right field, scoring pinch runner Jeremy Scheck.

"(Monday) at practice Coach mentioned to us that we were kind of getting out of our zone," Lasky said. "He really stressed finding your pitch. So that's what I was trying to do."

Stevenson's Nos. 7-9 hitters went 7-for-12, with Alex Daar (3-for-4) leading the way.

"Maybe they're hitting 7-8-9," Lasky said, "but in a lot of other lineups they're 1-2-3 (in the batting order)."

Teddy Heiser had a fourth-inning double and scored on Daar's bad-hop single. Nine Patriots had at least one hit.

"It's kind of been the story of our season,"Mazzuca said. "When one part of the lineup doesn't get it done, the other part has."