Kalina's base hit caps rally for Grayslake North
Grayslake North's baseball team was down -- to its final three outs -- but not out.
The Knights rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge Richmond-Burton in a nonconference game Wednesday.
Grayslake North loaded the bases in its half of the seventh on base hits by Jordan Field and Jimmy Butler and a walk to Clay Henricksen. Field scored on an RBI groundout by Vinnie Licciardello.
Pinch runner Drew Doering then raced home on a wild pitch to tie the game.
Stephan Kalina then ended it with a base hit to right field, scoring Butler.
Nate Sousa pitched a scoreless top of the seventh to earn the win. Starting pitcher Nick Harrington allowed 1 run in 4 innings, striking out four.
The Knights had 11 hits, including 3 apiece by Harrington (2 doubles) and Kalina. Field was 2-for-2, and Brandon Schroth hit a 2-run homer.
Vernon Hills 3, Libertyville 2: The visiting Cougars rallied after the Wildcats got their only 2 hits and scored twice in the fourth inning.
Zack Schwartz socked a solo homer, his second of the season, and Mark Argianas knocked in the winning run with a sixth-inning single.
That was all Brad Schnitzer needed, as he allowed only two more runners (2 walks) after the fifth. Schnitzer (2-0) struck out four and walked four. The game ended on a great barehanded play by Schwartz at third base.
Argianas and Mike Tice were both 2-for-3 for Vernon Hills.
Lake Zurich 7, Lakes 4: Dan Zummo pitched 6½ innings, allowing 3 earned runs, striking out eight and walking two for the win, and Ricky Erickson finished up on the mound for the save.
Scott DeGraeve went 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI to pace visiting Lake Zurich (5-3) offensively in the North Suburban Conference crossover. Corey Halicke was 2-for-3 with a double and RBI. Peter Romanello (double) and Reid Bergstrom (triple) also had extra-base hits for the Bears.
"Zummo pitched outstanding with great control," LZ coach Gary Simon said. "Our defense was stellar, led by Romanello, Halicke and Bergstrom with a game-saving, diving catch in right.
"Offensively, we got the big hit with runners in scoring position."
Lakes (2-5) got a 2-for-3 performance from sophomore Travis VanderWall, who also drove in a run. Randy Ratajczyk pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of VanderWall.
Mundelein 8, CL Central 2: Justin Piasecki had 2 hits and pitched 4 innings (2 earned runs, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks) for his first win of the season.
Dillon Smith doubled and singled for Mundelein (7-1), while Colton Tortorello homered. Jack Walliser and Jay Mueller added doubles for the Mustangs.
Stevenson 14, Grant 0: Scott Firth improved to 2-0, pitching a 5-inning 2-hitter with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Host Stevenson (4-3) was paced offensively by Matt Goll (2-for-3, triple, 3 RBI), Evan Leturno (2-for-2, triple, RBI) and Pat Colbourn (2-for-3, 2 RBI).
Johnsburg 6, Wauconda 4: Jamey Carey doubled for Wauconda (3-2).
Softball
Lake Forest 10, Round Lake 0: Erika Fragoso was 2-for-3, and Debbie Russ and Jamie White added singles for the Panthers.
"We played some great defense," coach Kristin Vogt said. "All the credit has to go to Lake Forest. When a team comes in and hits like that against us, there's nothing we can do but make the plays we can make. We did that today. We just didn't hit. We played a great team, and we gave great effort. We just have to hit more."
Woodstock 3, Lakes 0: Taylor Schulty rang up 16 strikeouts for the host Blue Streaks in the nonconference game.
Nora Kenney and Nicole Speck had the Eagles' only hits. Lakes pitcher Shannon Cooley pitched a 4-hitter, striking out nine and walking one.
Vernon Hills 2, Warren 0: Jackie Allen pitched a 9-inning shutout, allowing 4 singles, while striking out five and walking none in the North Suburban Conference crossover.
Adriana Longobardi (2-for-5, double) and Marci Pasquesi (1-for-4, double) drove in the runs for the Cougars. Anastasia Guletsky was 2-for-4 for Vernon Hills (7-3), and Heather Gray also had a double in the win.
Warren fell to 4-6.
Wauconda 13, St. Viator 3: The Bulldogs (3-4) pounded out 16 hits, including triples by Amanda Pausa and Stephanie Olson, and doubles by Kate Martino, Katie Born, Rachel Hughes, Cara Nance and Sam Palucska.
Pausa, Olson, Born, Hughes and Nance were all 2-for-3. Winning pitcher Sara Super allowed 4 hits, struck out three and walked a batter.
Wauconda batted in only four innings.
Boys water polo
Libertyville 10, Hoffman Estates 5: Danny LeJeune had 5 goals and an assist for the Wildcats. Goalie Jimmy Palac made 20 saves.
Girls water polo
Vernon Hills 16, Schaumburg 12: After a disappointing loss to Wheeling, the Cougars bounced back with a "heart-pounding" victory, coach Shona Moeller said.
With the score tied 11-11 at the end of the third quarter, Maddie Kleinhample and Melanie Lecaroz scored 2 goals each, and Kelly Steininger added one.
Steininger finished with 6 goals, while Kleinhample had four and Lecaroz three.
"Overall, the ladies played so well, at times, it felt like they were reading each other's minds," Moeller said.
Boys tennis
Carmel 8, Wheeling 0: The Corsairs cruised in the nonconference match, receiving singles wins from Reid Etter (No. 1), Brandon Veith (No. 2) and Chris Wilkinson (No. 3).
Doubles winners were Andrew Buchholz/Chris Butler (No. 1), Mike Levassuer/Dan Avampato (No. 2), Spencer Look/Dan Reiss (No. 3), Greg Hyde/Matt Varner (No. 4) and Ryan Healy/Brad Warner (No. 5).
Grayslake N. 7. Round Lake 0: The Knights' singles sweep included wins from Nils Reimers (No. 1), Peter Kopacz (No. 2) and Matt Davis (No. 3).
North's victorious doubles teams consisted of Brian Hook/Drew Hauck (No. 1), Keith Lilja/Kevin Aukee (No. 2), Marc Nethercote/Josh Harmon (No. 3) and Yaro Chernyshou/Eric Zeddirs (extra).
Boys track
Wauconda 101, Marengo 45: The Bulldogs received two wins apiece from Marc Anders (3,200, 1,600), Josh Fugle (pole vault, discus), Sean Lichterman (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles) and Garrett Dorsey (100 dash, 400 dash).
Boys volleyball
Warren d. Lakes: Jarrett Jespersen and Ryan Schuette each slammed 4 kills, as the Blue Devils won 25-10, 25-19 to improve to 14-2 overall and 2-0 in the North Suburban Conference.
Jeff Halvorsen dished 12 assists, while Derrick Norris, Gordon Booker and Jespersen each recorded 6 digs. Norris and Halvorsen each delivered 2 aces.
Vernon Hills d. North Chicago: Herman Lynn hammered 8 kills, and Ethan Steinhaus dished out 16 assists, to lead the Cougars to a 25-20, 25-15 win in North Suburban Conference action.
Ernie Choi added 5 kills and Jeff Achler recorded 10 digs for Vernon Hills (9-2). Keegan Harris and Alex Tartakovsky chipped in 3 kills apiece. Achler, Harris and Steinhaus each delivered a pair of aces.
"Sam Lee (4 assists, ace) is just coming off an injury, so it was good to get him back in the mix," coach Chris Curry said. "He and Steinhaus spread the ball around nicely. When we balance the offense, we're a much better team."
Stevenson d. Zion-Benton: Brad Feiger and Matt Litwin each had 5 kills for the Patriots in their 25-18, 25-21 win in a North Suburban Conference match.
Brandon Palmer and Bryan Kessler contributed 4 kills apiece for Stevenson (5-4, 2-0), which also received 2 aces each from Jay Meisner, Feiger and Josh Hollander. Jason Giecek lofted 20 assists. Meisner led Stevenson in digs with 12.
Girls soccer
Libertyville 2, Vernon Hills 2: In a Pepsi Showdown game, the host Wildcats received goals from Caitlin Wagener, Haley Walton and Haley Pike. Jen DiVincenzo and Shel McCracken had assists for Libertyville (4-1-1).
Vernon Hills (0-4-3) received goals from Mallory Feece and Kelly Nagle. Lexi Hernandez had an assist.
Carmel 6, Fenwick 1: Kassidy Brown had 3 goals and 2 assists, and Sara Petermann contributed 2 goals and an assist.
Emily Tripicchio also scored for the Corsairs. Alex Hauser and Nikki Boland added assists.
Prairie Ridge 1, Grayslake North 0: The Knights fell to 1-2, despite 11 saves by keeper Ashleigh Wonsil.
"We started a bit slow and unfortunately paid the price for it," North coach Adam DeCaluwe said. "We really struggled to get comfortable on the wet, short field and they were ready to pounce. We really could not get into a rhythm until the second half, and by then we were chasing the game, and we just did not have enough energy or enough of an attacking edge to pull ourselves even."