Libertyville was rolling along nicely until Hoffman Estates upset its apple cart with a twin killing Saturday. The Wildcats (10-4) lost 7-4 and 15-14 to the visiting Hawks (7-2). Still, Libertyville came from out of nowhere and is No. 3 in the latest Tribune poll.
”We should have won the second game Saturday, but we made some costly errors,” said Wildcats coach Jim Panther. ”We still have a good team.”
Yes, Libertyville is good. But Panther`s biggest problem is pitching, or a lack thereof. Get past Jon Shanholzer (2-0), Denny Ryan and Andy Forgione
(1-1) and there could be trouble.
”I get past a few pitchers, and it`s like batting practice,” Panther said. ”I`m pleased that we`ve done so well early, but I`m also a little disappointed. I feel we should be 12-2 at this point. We gave away a couple of games already with some infield errors that hurt us.”
Shanholzer, who no-hit Buffalo Grove in a five-inning job Friday, has a 0.86 earned run average and struck out 17 in 16 innings pitched. He has allowed a mere seven hits.
– Saturday, new No. 1 Hoffman Estates handled Libertyville behind a stellar performance (6 for 9, 3 home runs, 9 RBIs) from catcher Sam Fasano, who also played first base and picked up the save while pitching the final two innings in Game 2.
”Hoffman Estates is quite good,” Panther said. ”That kid Fasano has a good arm behind the plate. We have speed, but you can`t run on a guy like that easily. He had a super day Saturday that would have been a super couple of weeks for most players.”
– Another climber is Andrew, which goes from No. 3 to No. 2 this week. The Thunderbolts are 7-1, based in no small part on the lively arms of Jason Zimbauer and Ed Mazur. Zimbauer, a flamethrower, has fanned 34 batters in 17 innings. He`s 3-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA and has walked six. Mazur, somewhat of a surprise, is 2-0 and hasn`t allowed an earned run in 14 innings.
”We`ve been getting excellent pitching,” said Andrew coach Frank Ganser. ”We`ve also had some good defense behind the pitchers.”
SOCCER
Four down and who knows how many to go. Naperville North`s defending state champs ran their record to 4-0 by winning Saturday`s Palatine tournament. Naperville North knocked off Libertyville, Cary-Grove and Palatine before calling it a long day. The four-team tournament, which began at 9 a.m., ended at 8:30 p.m.
No small reason for Naperville North`s spotless record is the scoring prowess of Carla Fritz and Jenny Sovacool and Amy Liska`s goalkeeping.
”We are not last year`s team,” said Naperville North coach Alan Harris. ”We still have our problems on defense. The same questions I had before the tournament I still have. We expected to score, but we`re a (defensive)
player away from where we want to be. We have people we can move back, but when we do, we`re giving up something at their position.”
Palatine coach Chris Norton, whose team made it to the state finals last year, doesn`t see many Naperville North flaws.
”He (Harris) has a fine defense,” Norton said. ”His real question mark is that those girls weren`t starters last year, that`s all. With what Naperville`s got, you just reload.”
In one attempt to strengthen his defense, Harris moved center halfback Anna Harton to the stopper`s spot when she volunteered to make the switch. Jenny LaPlante was doing well at center half in place of Harton until she suffered a bruised toe against Libertyville Saturday.
”We`ll go as far as our fullbacks carry us,” said Harris. ”The injury to LaPlante hurt us.”
TENNIS
Homewood-Flossmoor`s first singles player, Mark Booras, missed the Hersey Invitational Saturday with an injury. Booras suffered a muscle tear in his back last fall and is being kept out of action until the weather gets warmer. – The No. 1- and No. 2-ranked players in the Chicago District Tennis Association Boys` 18 singles were upset Saturday at the Liberty Bell tournament in Northbrook. Top-ranked Blong Ly of Gordon Tech and No. 2 Nick Synegal of Lyons Township were stunned by Waukegan West`s Richard Watson. Watson walloped Synegal 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals and edged Ly 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) for the title. Watson entered the tournament ranked No. 1 by the CDTA in the Boys` 16 singles.
SOFTBALL
– The weather`s still frightful outside, but that isn`t what`s making Mundelein coach Jim deRivera`s blood run cold. It`s his defense. DeRivera`s Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in The Tribune`s preseason poll, were 29-4 last season. This year, they`re only 1-2. Saturday`s 6-4 home-field loss to defending Mid- Suburban League champion Hersey was Mundelein`s second defeat in a row. No major upset, but still mildly upsetting to deRivera, considering defensive lapses were also to blame for the 3-2 loss to Cary-Grove Thursday. ”Two things let me down,” said deRivera. ”We had 1, 2, 3 . . . no, 5 errors and four backward `K`s`-strikeouts where we didn`t even take the bat off our shoulders. I`m discouraged we`re 1-2, but I`m not pushing the panic button. These are exhibitions. This is my spring training. We`re playing people in positions they haven`t played before. We`ll be all right once conference and regionals start.” . . . Life doesn`t get an any easier for Mundelein. Ready or not, the Mustangs head into one of their toughest stretches of the season. Monday, they visit 1988 Class AA state runner-up Maine South. Wednesday they host No. 3 Thornwood in a double-header. And Friday, they take on pitcher Carrie Ramenofsky and 1988 state quarterfinalist New Trier in Winnetka. DeRivera plans to start his ace, Susan Musselwhite, against Maine South, with Musselwhite and Lynette Kowalke slated to share the pitching chores against Thornwood. Friday`s starter is up for grabs. Pitching, though, is the least of deRivera`s worries. Here`s another: ”The lower part of the batting order is not hitting,” said deRivera. ”The No. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 hitters have just one hit in three games.”
– Oak Park is 6-0. The Huskies, who hope to knock off defending champion York in the West Suburban Silver this season, are doing it with fine pitching and solid defense. Genny Kolbusz (3-0) and Julie Ieronemo (3-0) hurled Oak Park to a 5-2, 11-1 sweep of Hinsdale South Saturday. ”We`re taking it as it comes,” said Oak Park coach Sandy Abbinati. ”We`re right where we hoped we`d be. Kolbusz is pitching really well, getting them to hit the ball into the ground. She`s been holding them to one earned run a game. If she can keep them at one or under, we have a chance.” Oak Park`s showdown with York (3-1) is April 26 at Oak Park.
More Top Picks Niu Kqi3 Max
– Mother Nature is toying with Providence coach Randy Stelter`s patience. Friday night, after committing eight errors in the second inning of their 7-0 loss to Moline in Game 1, his Celtics were tied at 2 with the defending Class AA state champions when darkness called a halt to the proceedings. Saturday, Providence clobbered Wheaton St. Francis 11-1 in the first game and was up 16-7 after four innings of Game 2 when a sudden snowstorm sent players and fans scurrying for the bus. ”The snow had stopped by the time we got on the bus,” said Stelter. ”But by then the field had gotten real tacky. The umpires did their best, but it was too sloppy.” The game will be completed April 24 when St. Francis visits New Lenox. Stelter`s scouting report on Moline can`t be good news to Chicago-area teams hoping to unseat the Maroons. ”Moline`s pitching is outstanding,” he said. ”It`s the best we`ve seen so far.”
TRACK AND FIELD
Hinsdale Central`s Antje Siems has recovered from last fall`s state cross country meet. Siems, a West German foriegn exchange student, was contending coming down the final half mile but collapsed and finished out the running.
”It was a disappointment, but I got over it pretty quickly,” she said.
”It`s given me more incentive.” Siems did not run in the indoor season because her West German coach figured it would be too much of a strain. Her season at home will start when she returns from her year in Hinsdale.
– Hinsdale Central coach Anette Schulte was happy to greet junior Diana Hill back to running. Hill, an all-stater in cross country her first two seasons, missed last spring and fall because of a hip problem. ”She`s happy and healthy,” said Schulte. ”She`s a much more mature runner now. She`s always been a mature person, but now she runs maturely.” Hill and Siems will push each other in practice but will run different events. They will run together on a 3,200-meter relay team that could be a factor Downstate.
– Downers Grove South`s Mindy Sick wasn`t running a year ago. She injured her knee high jumping and missed most of last season. The Mustang junior ran a lot last summer and finished seventh in the state cross country meet. ”I ran the last three meets of the year on the 3,200-meter relay,” said Sick. ”I just decided to put a lot of miles in and see what happened in cross country. I never thought it would end up like it did.”
BASKETBALL
– West Chicago coach Lee Maciejewski is baffled by the lack of recruiting interest in 6-foot guard Tyrone Parks. ”He`s not being recruited at all,”
said Maciejewski, indicating that only College of Du Page has shown much interest. ”I don`t understand it. I guess it`s West Chicago-itis. We`re not exactly a powerhouse in basketball, so people don`t get to look at us.”
Parks averaged 23.5 points and 8 rebounds a game last season, shooting 80 percent from the free-throw line and 49 percent from the field. ”He can play with anybody,” Maciejewski said.
– Thornridge coach Mike Flaherty is hoping a few Division I coaches discover 6-7, 225-pound forward Reggie Ward, who averaged 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds a game last season. He thinks some recruiters might be put off by the bulky brace Ward wears to protect a knee he injured severely in January of his junior year, but which Flaherty says is no longer a problem.
– The Centurion Classic tournament will begin at 4 p.m. Monday with a game between St. Joseph and Westinghouse. The tournament, for boys high school teams, is at Marquette Manor Baptist Church, 333 75th St. in Downers Grove. Other Monday games are Thornton vs. Willowbrook at 5 p.m., King vs. Oak Park at 6 p.m., Proviso West vs. Hinsdale South at 8 p.m. and South Shore vs. Lyons at 9 p.m. In other opening-round games Tuesday, Proviso East plays Downers Grove North at 4 p.m., Thornridge plays Benet at 5 p.m. and East Aurora plays Downers Grove South at 6 p.m. There also will be games from 4-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, there will be four games beginning at noon, with the championship game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 964-5363. – The East Suburban Catholic Conference and the Chicago Catholic League will present their third annual Senior All-Star Game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at De La Salle High School, 3455 S. Wabash in Chicago.