Highland Park and Lakes keep climbing as Wauconda returns.
TOP 10
With records through Wednesday and previous rankings in parentheses.
1. Libertyville 20-2 (1)
Cole Lockwood, Quinn Schambow and Ryan Wilberding combine to go 13-for-19 as the North Suburban Conference leader outscores opponents 40-3 in three games.
2. Mundelein 15-5-2 (2)
Baris Brua pitches a gem in the Mustangs’ 2-1 NSC win over Warren on Monday, allowing no earned runs with five strikeouts and one walk in six innings.
3. Highland Park 18-3-1 (5)
Trent Harradine goes 6-for-9 with nine RBIs in the Central Suburban North leader’s three-game sweep of Niles North.
4. Grayslake Central 16-5 (3)
Brady Carlson picks up his fourth win in the Rams’ 6-1 Northern Lake County Conference victory over Antioch on Tuesday, allowing one run and striking out four in five innings.
5. Lakes 15-5 (6)
Owen Klosinski, hitting .583 in the past five games, and Zack Raffone, hitting .438, are offensive catalysts during the NLCC leader’s 11-game winning streak.
6. Warren 14-7 (4)
Braylan McCarthy continues to impress, pitching six scoreless innings in the Blue Devils’ loss to Mundelein on Monday and reaching base in five of eight plate appearances in two games.
7. Lake Zurich 13-7 (8)
Colin Chung goes 5-for-12 with a double, a triple and five RBIs and posts a 0.80 ERA with 11 strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings for the Bears.
8. Grant 12-7 (7)
Ramzi Abdelhak has yet to cool down in pacing the Bulldogs’ offense.
9. Antioch 14-8-1 (9)
Evan Schmidt hits .583 with five RBIs and four runs scored in five games, including a walk-off single in the Sequoits’ 3-2 NLCC win over Grant on April 25.
10. Wauconda 13-10 (NR)
The one-two punch of Luke Sickmeir and Ryan Fostiak produces eight hits in 17 at-bats in two games for the Bulldogs.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior pitcher/infielder Ben Lichtenfeld throws a one-hit shutout during Highland Park’s 12-0 Central Suburban North win against Niles North on Monday and goes 7-for-12 in three games.
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
