'One Of The Best Comebacks' Spells Lake Zurich Victory

Lake Zurich’s American Legion Post 964 baseball team won three out of the four games they played in last weekend’s Barrington Mid-Summer Classic to win the tournament. After losing to Arlington Heights 7-6 in the opener on the night of June 24, the team won three straight to cop the tourney crown.

Jeremy Reusch, who is normally Post 964’s catcher, came into the tournament hitting .370 with seven RBIs. He had only pitched one-third of an inning during the American Legion season but was named the starter in the opening round-robin contest against Arlington Heights. He was solid except for a four-run sixth inning, as Lake Zurich collected 10 hits and stayed in the game to the very end.

“The Arlington game, even though we lost, I told the guys that it was the best game we played all season,” said Post 964 coach Dan Grant. “We had them on the ropes and just could not hold on.”

Lake Zurich rebounded on Saturday afternoon with a solid 7-1 victory over the Colchester, Vt., Cannons in what was supposed to be the first game of a doubleheader. The team knocked out seven hits in a game that essentially was a no-doubter, though Grant elected to use three different pitchers. The team caught a break, however, as the second game of the twin bill was called on account of darkness and rescheduled for Sunday morning. Grant conceded that pushing the contest back allowed him to set up his bullpen for maximum effectiveness for the final pair of games on Sunday.

Post 964 came out swinging in Sunday morning’s game against New Lenox. After Mitch Tuthill whiffed to lead off the bottom of the first, the team went into overdrive, scoring five runs on seven hits in one of their biggest innings of the season. After New Lenox cut the lead in the top of the second to 5-2 with a pair of runs, Lake Zurich answered back with three more of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a commanding 8-2 lead. The early innings scoring accounted for most of the offensive fireworks for both teams, and Post 964 won by a score of 9-5 to qualify for the afternoon matchup against Bristol, Ind., for the tourney cup.

An hour after they disposed of New Lenox, Lake Zurich began their game against Bristol. A rough start did not bode well for the team, as starting pitcher Mark Dorfman yielded eight runs over the first three innings. Post 964 traded runs with Bristol when Tanner Kiser hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth and Bristol answered with one in the top half of the fifth for a 9-1 lead.

Post 964 kept chipping away, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more the following inning, narrowing Bristol’s advantage to 9-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Sensing that the tide was turning in their favor, Lake Zurich launched their final offensive assault. After putting a pair of runs across with one out to make it a 9-8 game, Tuthill walked with the bases loaded to knot the score at 9-all. That brought Jacob LaRue to the plate, allowing him the opportunity to play out a fantasy situation. LaRue rose to the challenge, hitting a bloop single into short right field for the game-winning hit. The 10-9 comeback win gave Post 964 the Barrington Mid-Summer Classic title.

“When I looked up at the scoreboard after the championship game with Bristol, I was amazed at the comeback,” said coach Grant. “We got one in the fourth, two in the fifth, three in the sixth and four runs in the seventh to win it. One of the best comebacks we have ever had in the seven years I have been managing this team.”

As Mike Irgang crossed home plate with the winning run, his teammates poured out of the dugout to celebrate the improbable, come-from-behind victory.

“Winning the tournament is just a great thing for the guys to experience, especially some of the guys entering their junior or senior years in high school,” said Grant. “Tanner (Kiser) had an outstanding tournament, going 6-for-11 with a homer and two doubles. He also threw three outstanding innings in relief in the New Lenox game, striking out three while not allowing a hit and only walking one. His future really looks bright going into his junior year, which is a critical year for high school baseball players looking to play in college.”

One newly minted alumnus concluding his high school play before he heads to Eastern Illinois, Jeremy Reusch, also played inspired ball. Besides being the starting pitcher in the opening game against Arlington Heights, Reusch also was at his familiar backstop position, as well as spending time at second and third bases. The tournament was a memorable coda for Reusch, who won’t be playing baseball at Eastern. Reusch said he does plan to continue playing in some capacity.