Disastrous loss on diamond for Sequoits

Antioch High's baseball team squandered a chance to nail down a share of the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division baseball title, losing to rival Lakes 5-4 in eight innings on Thursday.

The Sequoits finished 10-2 in the division, but Vernon Hills is lurking at 9-1 with two games remaining. The champ will host Lake Zurich next Thursday in the NSC Championship Game.

Antioch scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. But in the top of the eighth, Lakes scored the decisive run on a bizarre play.

With the leadoff runner on, the batter sacrificed and the runner didn't stop at second but continued to third. The throw from the first baseman was on target but the base was uncovered and the throw sailed down the left-field line.

Travis Vanderwall (1.1 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit) was the winning pitcher in relief, and Ken Karagiorgas went all eight innings and took the loss for Antioch.

Tim Ryan started for Lakes and gave up home runs to Logan Ken t and Andy Danna. Eric Lopez had three hits and Kyle Frye two for the winners (13-10 overall).

MAINE SOUTH 9, WARREN 8: The Hawks scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to steal the win from Waukegan (8-14 overall, 4-9 in the Central Suburban South). Victor Cortez and Jonathan French each went 2 for 3 for the Bulldogs.

MUNDELEIN 4, WARREN 2: Eric Rohe pitched Mundelein to a North Suburban Lake victory. He fanned 11 and allowed 3 hits while walking just 1.

HIGHLAND PARK 5, MAINE EAST 1: The Giants closed in on the Central Suburban North title as Jon Menke (5 innings, 6 strikeouts) and Anthony Kopp (2 innings, 4 punchouts) combined for the victory. Johnny "The Rocket" Lindquist went 3 for 4 at the plate with a pair of doubles. Jimmy Risi and Brian Evans both went 2 for 3.

CARMEL, LIBERTYVILLE SPLIT: Carmel beat Libertyville 24-17 in the completion of a game suspended from last month, and Libertyville won the regular game 11-5. In the Wildcat win, Tom Jacobson was 3 for 4 with a three-run homer, Jeremy Butler was 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs, and Joey Aiello was 2 for 3 with a homer.

LAKE FOREST 13, Z-B 5: Ian Hoagland went 3 for 3 at the plate and pitched six solid innings as the Scouts improved to 3-7 in the NSC Lake and 8-16 overall. Pat Moesta went 2 for 4 and scored 3 times, and Daniel Holmes was 2 for 2 with 3 walks, 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored for the winners.

GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL 5, CL SOUTH 3: Sophomore Mitch Tieller pitched a four-hitter and Nick Tielke and Matt Schmidt had key RBI doubles as the Rams improved to 15-9 with a non-conference win.

CL CENTRAL 10, GRAYSLAKE NORTH 9: The Knights fell to 8-13 overall with an odd-looking loss. Central scored 10 runs in the first three innings, then were completely shut down by relief pitcher Brandon Schroth. Nick Harrington, the starting and losing pitcher for the Knights, went 3 for 4 at the plate and scored 3 times. Jordan Field drove in three runs.

LAKE ZURICH 9, STEVENSON 5: The Bears finished 10-2 in the North Suburban Lake and will represent the division in the NSC Championship Game at Antioch by virtue of holding the tiebreaker over Mundelein, which also finished 10-2 in the league. Dan Zummo was the winning pitcher and he's now 7-0. He also went 4 for 4 at the plate, while Steve Cleary drove in four runs. The Bears are 22-5 overall.

VERNON HILLS 6, GRANT 1: Brad Schnitzer pitched a six-hitter, fanning nine as Vernon Hills closed in on the North Suburban Prairie title. He helped his own cause by getting three hits.

SOFTBALL

Z-B 8, LAKE FOREST 1: Sophomore Jessica Munda fanned 14, walked 1 and allowed 5 hits in pitching Zion-Benton (17-8 overall, 7-5 in the North Suburban Lake) to its seventh straight win. She fanned the side in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings. Freshman outfielder Shannon Lauret had three hits and scored three times, while Jennifer Lotz, Abby Hanson and Aleaha Hallgren each went 2 for 4 for the red-hot Bees.

LAKE ZURICH 2, STEVENSON 0: Katie Buczynski pitched a two-hitter, fanning six as the Bears (12-0 in the North Suburban Lake and 20-3 overall) made two first-inning runs stand up.

VERNON HILLS 4, GRANT 0: The Cougars completed a perfect 12-0 run through the North Suburban Prairie and will host mighty Lake Zurich in the North Suburban Conference Championship Game next Thursday. Marci Pasquesi pitched a six-hitter , fanning three and walking none. Erin Christensen, Pasquesi and Alyssa Dougherty all went 2 for 4 for the division champs (25-3).

MUNDELEIN 5, WARREN 2: Mundelein scored four times in the fifth and once in the sixth to take a North Suburban Lake decision from Warren. Leslie Harshey outpitched Jessica Capko and got the win. Mundelein (14-14 overall, 6-6 in the NSC Lake) got three hits from Sarah Clauser, and two from both Capko and Alex Booker. ANTIOCH 6, LAKES 4: Ashley Mysliwiec and Allie Antilla each hit two-run homers in the bottom of the seventh as Antioch stunned Lakes in North Suburban Prairie play.