Lakes, Highland Park, Vernon Hills, Warren and Wauconda all move up in the rankings, and Warren’s Braylan McCarthy is the player of the week.
Top 10
With records through Sunday and previous rankings in parentheses.
1. Libertyville 17-6-1 (1): Trevor Wallace hits a walk-off single to lift the defending Class 4A state champion Wildcats over Highland Park.
2. Grayslake Central 18-3 (2): Derek Caldwell picks up a win for the Northern Lake County Conference co-leader by pitching two innings in the resumption of a suspended game after taking a loss in relief in a full game the same day.
3. Lake Forest 17-4 (3): Nate Brezak pitches a shutout with nine strikeouts in the North Suburban Conference leader’s win over Stevenson.
4. Lakes 15-4-1 (5): Carson Norris and Nathan Mead combine to pitch a five-inning no-hitter in the NLCC co-leader’s rain-shortened win over Grayslake North.
5. Highland Park 16-5 (6): Cooper Kasdin also pitches a shutout with nine strikeouts in one of the Central Suburban North leader’s three wins over Maine West.
6. Vernon Hills 15-6-1 (7): Trevor Todd delivers a walk-off hit in the eighth inning to push the Cougars past Evanston.
7. Warren 13-6 (9): Colin Dreckmann and Braxton Goodfellow each drives in two runs during one of the Blue Devils’ two NSC wins over Mundelein.
8. Wauconda 13-7 (10): Lucas Swanson hits his team-high fifth home run during one of the Bulldogs’ three NLCC wins over Grant.
9. Mundelein 11-7 (4): Leading hitter Maddox Solum and the Mustangs will try to rebound from two losses to Warren with a series against Lake Zurich.
10. Stevenson 14-10 (8): Jordan Levine and Sam Prosk each allows just one run during the Patriots’ wins against Lake Forest and Naperville Central, respectively.
Player of the week
Senior pitcher Braylan McCarthy improves to 5-1 during Warren’s 7-6 North Suburban Conference win over Mundelein on Wednesday and goes 6-for-8 with five RBIs over three games.
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
