Baseball: After slow start, Mundelein's offense comes alive in win over Warren
After being no-hit for the first 3 1/3 innings, the Mundelein offense got going Monday afternoon in North Suburban Conference baseball action against visiting Warren.
A one-out double by Tommy Stricklin broke up Warren starter Adam Behrens' no-hitter in the bottom of the fourth. The Mustangs would score 4 runs on 3 hits in the inning, including a 2-run homer by No. 8 hitter Connor Weik.
From there Mundelein (17-3, 7-2) went on to post a 6-3 NSC victory behind another strong pitching performance from junior Ryan Geraghty (5-1). He allowed 2 runs and 6 hits in 6 innings of work on the mound.
Junior Christian Seminaro walked before Chris Callas drove in Stricklin with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead. Then Geraghty helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly driving in Seminaro for a 2-0 edge.
With two outs, Weik knocked an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left-center for a 4-0 lead. Warren (14-6, 7-2) could never overcome that deficit.
"Lately we've just been destroying the ball and we've been doing a lot of work in practice," said Geraghty. "That (fourth inning) completely turned the game around and got the momentum on our side."
The Blue Devils responded to the 4-0 deficit strongly as a single by Behrens and a double by Adam Schilz put runners on second and third with two outs. After a walk to Kendall Lyons, Albert Jacquez-Ramirez came up with a 2-run single to cut the lead to 4-2.
"They strung some hits together, but Adam (Behrens) threw very well," said Warren coach Clint Smothers. "Their pitcher (Geraghty) is one of the best we've seen all year and his slider was really good today."
Leadoff hitter Michael Farina reached on a 3-base throwing error in the bottom of the fifth before Farina scored on Drew Wellington's RBI single for a 5-2 lead. Mundelein's Daniel Pacella doubled and scored on Seminaro's RBI single for a 6-2 lead. Behrens was pulled after 4 1/3 innings as he allowed 6 hits overall.
In the top of the seventh, Behrens walked off Mundelein reliever Caden Morton. Another double by Schilz with an error tacked onto the play resulted in Behrens scoring all the way from first base to make the final score 6-3.
"Their guy Behrens pitched a great game. It was a big at-bat by Connor Weik in the eight-hole, and he drove it hard," said Mundelein coach Randy Lerner, whose team will face Warren again Tuesday weather permitting. "Ryan (Geraghty) had all three pitches working. He was hitting his spots to keep them off-balance, and the defense worked behind him."
Samuel Schmitt tried to get a Blue Devils rally going in the top of the sixth as he led off with a single to left field. But Geraghty got senior Jeremy Walton to ground into a 6-3 double play, and Warren was unable to do anything else offensively in that frame.
Schilz had a great day at the plate as he went 3-for-4 while Behrens was 2-for-3 with a walk.