Given the way the program has been trending in recent years, it’s understandable that Waukegan’s baseball players were perhaps a bit swept away by their 4-1 start to the 2015 season — a record that included a perfect game pitched by senior August Voight against Zion-Benton on Wednesday.
But just as it is in the professional ranks, baseball is a day-to-day, game-to-game grind, and when Grayslake North rolled into Waukegan a day after Voight’s no-hitter, the Bulldogs brought the bats and gloves to the field, but not their mental edge.
The result was a 5-4 victory for the Knights (4-4), who will next take the field on Saturday at Lakes. Waukegan (5-2) will host Clemente on Saturday.
“As coach (Dan Green) pointed out, we came in thinking we were going to stomp the yard today because of how we did yesterday,” Voight said.
“The fact of the matter is, we weren’t ready to play.”
Grayslake North broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth, and had a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. The Bulldogs got one run there on Julian Perez’s one-out single, followed by a stolen base and a throwing error on an infield grounder.
In the bottom of the seventh, Neil Morrill had a one-out single and went all the way to third when the hit was misplayed. A bunt by Tristyn Ruiz scored Morrill to make it 5-4, but Grayslake reliever Jack Barreca got an infield pop fly to end the game.
“Overall, we’re off to a good start,” Voight said. “We’ve been playing pretty well. We didn’t really play that poorly today, but we didn’t consistently string hits together and didn’t quite do what we needed to do defensively (three errors).”
Brendan Taskovic (5.1 innings, 1 earned run, 4 hits) was the winning pitcher, and Barreca earned the save.
In the top of the fifth, Michael Bleich replaced Jean Casanova on the mound for Waukegan and a hit batsman and RBI double by Alex Carillo (2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs, 1 run) broke the 2-2 tie. Carillo later scored on an error. The fifth Grayslake run came in the sixth.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty well lately,” Carillo said. “Jake Damore (3-for-4 Thursday) has been red-hot. We did a good job putting the ball in play today.”
Grayslake’s 23-player roster includes 13 juniors and three sophomores.
“We’re a young team and very inexperienced,” coach Andy Strahan said. “Our goal is to get better every day. That’s what we’re focused on. We want to be working toward playing our best baseball as the season goes on and into the regional. That’s our main focus right now — understanding where we’re at and getting better.”
As its record suggests, Waukegan is getting better, and Voight’s no-hitter was an early season high point.
“Zion’s one of our rivals, and I went into the game pretty confident. The coach from one of the colleges (College of Lake County) looking at me was there, and it was my birthday yesterday, so I had the juice flowing,” Voight said. “I struck out the side in the first two innings. At that point, I knew it was going to be a good game, but I didn’t see the perfect game coming.
“In the seventh inning, we had two outs and a kid I used to play with was up to bat. I was thinking, ‘This would be a great kid to get out to end the game,’ and then I thought, ‘Hang on. There are no runs. They haven’t had a hit. I haven’t walked anybody. This is a perfect game if I get this kid out.’
“First pitch, I threw a cutter and he grounded out to our third baseman. It was incredible.”
Girls soccer
Warren 0, Mundelein 0: This tie brought Warren’s record to 1-1-1. Blue Devils goal keeper Liz Carrano had three saves.
Boys volleyball
Waukegan def. Antioch: The Bulldogs won the nonconference match 25-11, 27-25, as Teddy Coleman had 10 kills, Andres Garcia eight aces and Jose Villegas 30 assists.
Baseball
Grant 5, Hononegah 2: The Bulldogs (4-2) led 3-0 early and added two runs in the top of the seventh. Sam Fernandez (5.1 innings, 3 strikeouts, 2 earned runs) was the winner and Chad Baron (1.2 innings, 4 strikeouts) got his second save. James Pendley was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Spencer Lhotka and Ben Kusiak were both 2-for-3 for Grant.
Carmel 8, Hersey 1: Cooper Johnson homered, and Johnson, Griffin Norton and Matt Collins all had two hits in the win.
Mundelein 10, Conant 0: Reese Dolan fanned nine and was the winning pitcher for the Mustangs.
Bryan Bonato is a freelance writer; News-Sun staff contributed
