Irgang, LZ turn away St. Laurence

Lake Zurich's Mike Irgang doesn't necessarily consider himself a groundball pitcher, but that's exactly what he turned into against St. Laurence.

Coaxing five double plays, one on a hit-and-run pop out, Irgang kept a potent offense at bay and led the Bears to a 5-3 win in the opening round of the IHSBCA Phil Lawler Summer Classic on Monday at Lisle's Benedictine University.

Lake Zurich (26-12) advances in the winner's bracket of the eight-team state tournament and will face Neuqua Valley at 10 a.m. today at North Central College. If the Bears win they move on to the semifinals; if they lose they must win later in the day to avoid being knocked out in the double-elimination format.

"It was good to throw again, I had the solid defense behind me," said Irgang, who allowed 2 runs in six-plus innings. "What did we have, five double plays today? I didn't have anything to worry about. The guys had my back. It's just the way it worked out today."

Despite playing short-handed with several players out of town, Lake Zurich took a 1-0 first-inning lead on Jeremy Reusch's RBI single. A second-inning fielder's choice by Irgang made it 2-0, and then Reusch cleared the bases with a two-out double that boosted the lead to 5-0.

"It felt good to pick the team up, especially knowing they went three in last inning and we needed it," Reusch said of the 3-run double. "It fires everyone up, gets everyone going."

Irgang allowed 6 hits through six innings, but the defense kept cutting down runners. Double plays killed St. Laurence rally attempts in the first, second, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

St. Laurence (22-4) finally broke through against Irgang in the top of the seventh inning. Kyle Wood's RBI triple drove in the first run, and after a walk Eddie Szarkowicz relieved Irgang.

The Vikings' second run scored on Lake Zurich's final double play. Kevin Smith pulled St. Laurence within 5-3 with an RBI single, but Szarkowicz retired the next batter to seal the win.

After losing to the Bears, St. Laurence stayed alive with a 3-2 win over Providence.

"It's too bad we waited until the seventh, and still we managed to hit into a double play that inning," said Vikings coach Pete Lotus. "I think that was the story. In seven innings we hit into five double plays, and that's tough."