Lake Zurich’s Orchard, Self Shine In Girls Volleyball Tournament

Lake Zurich senior Amanda Orchard and junior Layne Self both excelled at the recent Girls USA Volleyball National Championships in Atlanta, which concluded July 4.

Orchard played almost flawless ball in helping her Sky High 17 Black team place seventh. Self was instrumental in her Sky High 16 Black team finishing fifth. Orchard’s team was riding high, having just won the AAU Girls National Volleyball Championship in Orlando. She continued her stellar play in spite of her team not doing as well in Atlanta’s big tourney.

Orchard gave a verbal commitment to the University of Pittsburgh in March and spent last week playing in a volleyball camp at her future college. The 5-foot-11 outside shooter opted not to play either basketball or softball last year in order to dedicate herself to volleyball.

Meanwhile, Self played consistently excellent ball throughout the national tournament, and her squad came close to making it to the championship match. Coach Matt Aiello felt that the 6-foot middle hitter gained confidence by playing in the tourney. She will be a star player on her team this fall, and the tournament exposure will help her poise.

The Lake Zurich Lacrosse Club’s sixth- and seventh-grade team nabbed a championship earlier this summer. By defeating Barrington 8-3 in the Junior A Division championship game, the squad took home the Northwest Chicago Youth Lacrosse Federation trophy. The team finished 11-0 on the season, and also defeated Libertyville on their path to the championship.

The team members included David Bailey, Conner Barco, Hunter Barco, Miller Beyer, Rick Bingham, Mike Bingham, Bobby Bitter, Will Buchta, Riley Callard, James Caruso, Anthony Cucco, Jesse Dever, T.J. Gavin, John Ito, Matt Machala, Kyle McCurley, Michael Orsini, Tim Spears, Nick Stasiewicz and Ryan Voth. The coaching staff included Tony Orsini, Mike Spears and Tom Voth.

With their 12-0 loss to arch foes Libertyville in the playoffs on Saturday, Lake Zurich Post 964’s season is finished. The team acquitted themselves quite honorably in the playoffs; after losing to Libertyville (them again!) 12-4 in the opening round, Lake Zurch defeated Lake Forest 3-1 in a gem of a pitched game by Mike Irgang, then set down Zion 6-1 on Friday. That meant a rematch with dreaded Libertyville. Post 964 was thumped by Libertyville 10-1 June on 23, prior to the two playoff losses. Overall, Libertyville outscored Lake Zurich 34-5 in their three matchups this season.

It’s always bittersweet when the season ends for some of the players who already have graduated and will be deploying for college in a matter of weeks, where they may or may not continue their baseball careers. Some players do elect to return after they have begun college and play for the American Legion team during their summer break to hone their baseball skills, but for most it is the end of the road as far as local baseball is concerned.

All the players on the team worked on honing their skills during the six-week season, but there were several standouts who bear mention: Pitcher Mike Irgang was without doubt the team’s ace. Irgang went 6-3, pitching a team-high 49.2 innings with 72 strikeouts and 31 walks to go with a 3.81 ERA. Among the regular hitters, Kyle Sanders paced the team with a .398 batting average. In 83 at-bats, Sanders hit six doubles, four triples and one home run, while knocking in nine runs.

Tanner Kiser was the team’s leading power hitter, knocking out a team-high four homers to go with a team-leading 25 RBIs. In 80 at-bats, Kiser tied Mitch Tuthill with a team-best 29 hits, including seven doubles and a triple, to go with a third-best .362 batting average. Tuthill was a consummate leadoff hitter, banging out 29 hits in 91 at-bats, hitting seven doubles and a triple to go with nine RBIs.

Mike Schnur heated up at the tail end of the season, finishing with a second-best .375 batting average and 14 RBIs.

Brian Wiest hit .350 in 60 at-bats, knocking out six doubles and 14 RBIs.

Catcher Jeremy Reusch was also a solid hitter, batting .298 with 18 RBIs, second best on the team. Reusch also was a steadfast presence defensively behind the plate all season. Finally, Mark Dorfman hit .318 with 14 RBIs in just 44 at-bats.