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Baseball: Murphy comes up big as Mundelein tops Prairie Ridge

While his fastball speed figures to increase as the temperatures do, Mundelein junior Brendan Murphy showed off another one of his baseball skills Wednesday.

Foot speed.

A left-handed hitter and thrower, the 6-foot-4 Murphy led off the bottom of the fifth against Prairie Ridge by legging out a bunt to the left of the mound.

“I haven't bunted in forever,” Murphy said with a laugh. “Coach (Todd) Parola came up to me and said, ‘Take a look at the third baseman.' The first pitch was a changeup (for a strike), so I figured (Prairie Ridge pitcher Joe Hanley) was going to come back with a fastball. I saw it, put (the bunt) down and just ran as fast as I could. And it worked.”

“Great bunt,” Parola said.

What Murphy does more often is pitch great, and the Arizona State commit was stellar again in host Mundelein's 4-0 win.

In his third start (fourth appearance) of the season, Murphy had his longest outing, pitching 6 innings of two-hit ball. He struck out four, walked a pair (back-to-back in the fifth) and hit a batter. In 11 innings this season, the second-year ace has yet to allow a run.

“I don't have my best stuff yet, but I'm still able to stay in counts, keep my composure and fill up the zone,” Murphy said. “I just need to work on keeping the ball down a little bit because that's been my issue.”

“He did good,” Parola said of Murphy after the Mustangs improved to 7-1. “He's got room for improvement. He knows that. He'll continue to get better.”

Prairie Ridge (4-3) got two-out singles from Hunter Martin in the second and Robin Kim in the fourth. Mundelein's Will Michalski pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, striking out two.

Murphy's consecutive walks in the fifth came after one out. The Wolves' threat ended when Mundelein third baseman Zack Zagula grabbed a groundball, stepped on the bag and fired to first for a double play.

“We hit one ball hard on the day that I remember,” Prairie Ridge coach Glen Pecoraro said. “It was good to see this level of pitching, a left-hander. He's got to be mid-to-high 80s (mph), and I thought that last kid they brought in looked good too.”

Murphy led off the bottom of the second by roping an opposite-field double, but the Mustangs did not score and left the bases load. They scored 3 runs in the third, getting an RBI single by Zagula, before Brett Parola bounced a two-run double down the third-base line. A passed ball gave the hosts another run in the fourth.

On the day, Mundelein stole four bases but left eight runners on base, including five in scoring position. Seven players accounted for 8 hits, including bunt singles by Murphy and Nick Stricker.

“We got a long ways to go,” Todd Parola said. “We need better at-bats up and down the lineup. We struck out too many times with guys in scoring position. High school baseball is not magic. You got to put the ball in play. If you do that, good things happen.”

  Mundelein's Eric Pettett (16) gets high-fives from the bench after scoring against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Brett Parola dives back to first against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Jeff Morton, right, is safe at second as Prairie Ridge's James Mikolatczewski makes the play Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Nick Stricker, left, is tagged out at home by Prairie Ridge's Scott Stetz on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Jake Breitenreiter slides safely into home against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein pitcher Brendan Murphy gets high-fives from the bench after a good inning against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Nick Stricker throws to first against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Ryan Fairweather connects against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Nick Stricker connects against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday at Mundelein. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
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