Lake Zurich Baseball Tournaments Highlight Local Sports Scene

It was a trifecta for the Lake Zurich Bears baseball team, which strung together three straight shutouts during the recent IHSBCA State Summer League Tournament, which was played during the ongoing 90-degree-plus heat wave.

The Bears kicked off the tourney July 17 by routing Zion-Benton 10-0. Austin Foote, one of several hurlers on the team who figure to make Lake Zurich a dominant force next season, pitched six solid shutout innings. The lanky 6-foot-3 southpaw fanned nine and walked just one while giving up four hits. Foote received all the offensive help he needed when Ian Ryan slammed a three-run, bases-loaded triple.

Bears coach Gary Simon decided to start Wyatt Spector for the second game, and the lefty outdueled Grayslake’s Mark Ash in a 2-0 victory for Lake Zurich. Spector employed a wicked slider in his stellar mound performance, a pitch he has used with great stealth thanks to pitching coach Larry Lewis. Lewis, a former major leaguer whose best pitch was a slider, has taught it to several hurlers on his staff, but perhaps no one has adapted it more readily than Spector, whose repertoire includes a fastball that has picked up some speed of late. Tanner Kiser’s big two-run single in the first turned out to be all the offense that Spector needed.

The third shutout occurred July 19, when Mike Lutz, who has been busy most of the summer playing on several travel teams, asked if he could go to the mound. Simon was glad to have the hard-throwing star righty available to square off against a tough Grayslake North team. Lutz was on the money, firing a two-hitter with nine Ks and just one walk. Simon cited the hurler’s ability to change speeds as one of the main reasons he was so dominant. Lutz was the recipient of some clutch hitting by Mike Shastany, who doubled twice, and James DeGeorge, who had a pair of hits and an RBI.

The party ended July 20, when the Bears played Libertyville in the semifinal contest, as the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-0 lead after just two innings. Lake Zurich showed a lot of grit and determination, however, clawing back to 12-8 with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. But Libertyville was able to stifle the rally without yielding any additional runs. Lake Zurich put on quite a hitting display against the Wildcats; Jacob LaRue and DeGeorge both pounded out three hits, and Shastany and Sean Eder both doubled.

Lake Zurich youth participated in the annual Bear Claw Tournament, which started July 20. The Lake Zurich 12U Red team, which previously had finished second in the Lake in the Hills Tourney earlier in the month and fell just short of placing in the Grayslake Tournament, won two of the three games they played in the rain-shortened Bear Claw Tournament.

The team features a quartet of solid pitchers in Kyle Fleming, Brian and Kyle Griffith, and Stephen Grinnip. The team lost their opener to Crystal Lake 15-3, but then came back and flexed their offensive muscle, defeating Grayslake 18-13 and trouncing McHenry 17-7.

Kyle Obsuszt was the team’s top hitter with a lofty .556 batting average, followed by Alex Kozlowski, who batted .524. Both hitters had an on-base percentage in excess of .600. At this stage in youth baseball, pitching and catching are the most important components of the game, and besides the 12U Red’s strong mound presence, the team also boasted a trio of strong-armed catchers in Kozlowski, Ryan Nix and Will Ergastolo. All three backstops threw out a number of would-be base stealers. Nix also reached base during more than half of his 26 at-bats, including 11 walks. Billy Busse was a defensive standout in center field and at first base. The team also featured Brian Gorke, Connor Kottke and Ben Marzec.

The LZ 10s were also a force to be reckoned with, as they opened the tourney by knocking off Grant 10-7 on July 20. The team faced a bases-loaded rally by Grant in their last at-bats but were able to prevail. In their second contest, the team annihilated Cary 23-8, and scored a season-best 16 runs in one inning. That game included three home runs by the LZ 10s. Unfortunately, the balance of the tourney was washed out due to heavy rains.

The club also finished second earlier in the month in the Brian Krueger Memorial Tournament, named in honor of a Lake in the Hills youth who excelled at baseball. He died from brain cancer in 2005.

One of the highlights of the tourney featured a signed ball that the Lake Zurich team presented to Ken Krueger, the father of the late youth baseball player, who said he would place it on a mantle next to a ball that his son had received during a Major League World Series.

The members of the Lake Zurich 10s are Tino Alivia, Luke Dwyer, George Gritsonis, Robbie Guidice, Noah Janke, Mitchell Larson, Ryan O’Connell, Jason Sayre, Nick Socki, Chris Sotos and Jason Wollard.

The LZ 14s lost two close contests in the rain-shortened tournament, succumbing to Cary 10-7 and Gurnee 12-7, and finished with a 0-3 record. The 14s team includes Nate Amos, Mark Antkowiak, Shane Eisenhuth, Christian Felleti, David Kirshenbaum, Tim Laskowski, Adam Kraft, Declan O’Connor, Nick Ortlund, Anthony Romero, Trevor Sayre, Brendan Skelton and Jake Timonen.