Emotional week for Simon, Lake Zurich

It's been a bittersweet week for Lake Zurich baseball coach Gary Simon.

He was more than just a bit excited that his team knocked off Libertyville, one of the best teams in the area, on Monday, 3-2.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to see it.

He was in downstate Monmouth helping his wife Teri say goodbye to her father, Jack Reitman, a longtime fire chief in Libertyville who died of complications from arterial disease at age 76.

"It's been a tough time, a tough three weeks, really," Simon said. "(Reitman) was in the (intensive care unit) for the last three weeks. I've missed a few things with the team."

Simon missed some practices and last week's Round Lake game, as well as the Libertyville game.

However, he wasn't ever totally out of the loop.

"I just had to know what was going on, especially in the Libertyville game," Simon said. "So I was getting texts all through the game. The only problem was, it was during part of the service (for Reitman). My wife wasn't real happy about that."

Teri Simon was happy, however, about the support she got from the team at a memorial service held last week in Libertyville for all of Reitman's old friends from the area.

"My wife looked up at one point and she says to me, 'Is that the team?' Simon said. "I look over and sure enough, my entire team had come to pay their respects. It was really heartwarming. I have a great group of young men. That meant a lot to us."

Nice gesture, 2: When Simon's father-in-law, Jack Reitman, was in the hospital, he got a gift that immediately put a smile on his face.

"All my players signed a baseball for him," Simon said. "(Reitman) could barely talk, but he grabbed that ball and he wouldn't let go of it. That was the first time in quite some time I saw him show a lot of emotion, other than when a Cubs game was on.

"I don't like the Cubs. I'm a Sox fan. But for my father-in-law, I rooted for the Cubs."

Forever a fireman: Simon says that Reitman's memorial service in Libertyville was very well attended.

But that wasn't a surprise, given that he had been such a wonderful presence in the town for so many years.

According to Simon, Reitman was the chief when the Libertyville Fire Department went from volunteer to full-time status. He remained in that position for 26 years.

"He oversaw two new firehouse being built, he became president of the state Fire Chiefs Association. He did a lot," Simon said of his father-in-law. "He really made an impact on the Libertyville community and a lot of people remember him."

On fire: Speaking of the fire department, the Libertyville baseball team could have used one to cool off Lake Zurich pitcher Chas Evans.

A big reason Lake Zurich was able to get a win over Libertyville on Monday was the stellar play of Evans. He rolled up 14 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. He also belted a home run in the first inning.

Evans moved his record to 5-0 on the mound this year.

"Chas is playing really great," Lake Zurich coach Gary Simon said. "This is going to really help our team, confidence-wise. Beating a team like Libertyville is huge."

Going batty: In baseball, hitting is fickle.

That's what Antioch coach Paul Petty keeps telling himself. It's the only thing that makes him feel better about his team's current woes at the plate.

The 4-11 Sequoits are batting just .281 as a team, and have struck out 97 times in 15 games.

"As a team, you should really be hitting around .310 or .325," Petty said. "And last year, we had 148 strikeouts for the whole year. In 30 games. In 2007, we had as many strikeouts for the season as we do now, 15 games in.

"We're just not hitting the ball the way we should. And the strikeouts are becoming insurmountable. We've got guys who are striking out 50 or 60 percent of the time."

In that context, Petty reminisced about the completely opposite results achieved by a former player of his, Chandler Kent, who graduated a few years ago and played four years on the varsity.

Kent is the older brother of current Sequoit Logan Kent.

"He struck out twice as a sophomore on varsity," Petty said of Chandler Kent. "And I think over his four-year varsity career, he struck out eight times total. Now, he was a great player, but still. I look at the numbers we have now compared to that and it's just ridiculous."

So what gives? Why are the Sequoits struggling so much?

"I'm not sure exactly," Petty said. "I think we've got some guys who are starting to figure things out, but the whole process is just taking a lot longer than I thought it would.

"Believe me, we're working on skills, on drills, we're watching film, looking at each kid and trying to help him tweak little things here or there. It's just been a really slow process."

Sequoit silver lining: The news hasn't been all bad for Antioch at the plate.

Three players boast above a .300 batting average, including freshman Joe Gregory, who is sitting at .317.

Senior veterans Andy Danna and Logan Kent lead the way with .475 and .444 batting averages, respectively. Kent has 5 home runs, 19 hits and 12 RBI and Danna has 3 home runs, 20 hits and 12 RBI.

"Those guys are doing very well and really doing a lot," Antioch coach Paul Petty said. "But we still just have too many holes in our lineup.

"Usually you get a few guys hitting in the .400s and several in the .300s but we've got our top three and then the bottom falls out from there. We dip down into the .200s and .100s after that."

On the right foot: It's funny what excites a high school baseball coach.

"I just found out that one of my freshmen has size 15 shoes," said Round Lake coach Ed Adamson giddily. "That's something to really look forward to."

Adamson is referring to freshman Anthony Gutierrez, who starts at third base for the Panthers and also does some pitching. He is about 5-foot-11 now but could sprout up quickly to keep pace with his growing feet.

Adamson says Gutierrez's father and uncle are about 6-foot-6.

Combine a potentially big body with the invaluable experience of playing varsity as a freshman and Gutierrez could be a force in the years to come.

"What I also really like about Anthony is that he shows no intimidation, even as a freshman," Adamson said. "He acts like he belongs and he doesn't back down from anyone. Time will tell, but we're really excited about Anthony."

Young and old: Freshman Anthony Gutierrez isn't the only spring chicken that Round Lake relies upon.

Sophomore Chris Rana is starting at first base after having been pulled up for part of last season as a freshman.

Adamson is pleased with Rana, too, and says that part of the reason his young guys are handling varsity ball so well is that they're getting some good advice.

And not just from the coaches.

"We've got some really nice senior leadership out there," Adamson said. "It's really helping with our younger guys, with the whole team really. Three of our seniors in particular, Jeff Nicoline, Mike Fuller and Matt Ortiz are really doing a nice job of helping the rest of our guys, explaining things, setting good examples."

Nicoline is Round Lake's leading hitter with a .428 average. And he's a jack-of-all-trades in the field. He pitches, and plays both shortstop and second base, depending on the team's needs.

Fuller is the Panthers' starting centerfielder and Matt Ortiz bats lead-off and plays either the infield or the outfield.

Needed that: Warren didn't just get a win by edging Stevenson, one of the top teams in the northern suburbs, on Tuesday, 2-1. The Blue Devils also got a psychological pick-me-up.

This is a team that has had plenty of adversity thrown its way lately. In fact, the bad news had hit its peak just prior the Stevenson game.

Warren was without three starters for the game.

Shortstop Ryan Economos was serving part of a 10-game disciplinary suspension, designated hitter and first baseman Pat Walters was home with pink eye and left fielder Ryan Brown was out with a migraine headache that left him throwing up for most of the day.

Add to that the fact that pitcher Chad Johnson, one of Warren's top hitters, has been playing with a severely sore back all season and the Blue Devils had every reason to be down in the dumps.

"But I tell you what, our kids still fought and they didn't give up," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "I just told them before the game that no one expected us to win, so let's just prove them wrong and the guys came together so great.

"It was nice to see them so excited after the game because they've felt all the adversity we've had. I think being able to beat a team like Stevenson in that situation is really going to do a lot for our team and our confidence."

Johnson or Johnson: Normally, senior Chad Johnson would be Warren's No. 2 pitcher behind fellow senior Sean Kennedy.

But Johnson's back problems this season have really limited his time on the mound.

"Chad also had back problems all last year and we really don't know what it is," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "He's tried (stimulation) and massage and he's just still so sore. He's a tough kid and he fights through it but the fact is, he just can't always give us 100 percent."

Smothers would like to throw Johnson more. But he also wants Johnson's bat in the lineup and it seems like asking for both is asking for too much.

"We've found that if we throw Chad a full game, he's done for four or five days because he'll get so stiff," Smothers said. "We need him to bat for us, so we haven't been throwing him as much."

Enter the other Johnson on the team, Jeff.

Jeff Johnson got Warren's big win over Stevenson on Tuesday and has moved himself right up the rotation.

"He used to be our No. 3 or No. 4, but now he's moved up a little bit," Smothers said of Jeff Johnson, who went the distance against the Patriots. "He really did a nice job of keeping Stevenson's batters off balance with his curve ball. He just pitched really well."