The Skyway Conference baseball race is shaping up as a two-team battle between the College of Lake County and Oakton.
Going into doubleheaders on Tuesday, Oakton led the league at 6-0 and CLC was at 5-1.
So far in league play, the Lancers have swept Waubonsee Community College (5-1 and 4-3), split with Elgin Community College (winning 3-1 after losing 9-1), and swept Prairie State (17-2 and 16-2).
After playing McHenry (3-3 in the Skyway) in a twin bill on Tuesday, the Lancers have two games at Moraine Valley (1-3) on Saturday.
As a team, CLC (11-7) is hitting .300, with sophomore Jake Costabile (Kenosha Bradford grad) at .404, freshman Dominic Cuevas (Warren) at .342, and freshman Kevin Tibor (Bradford) at .333 among the usual starters.
Sophomore Aaron Kasting (Waukegan) is hitting .500 (11-for-22) and freshman Sam Merlock (Kenosha Christian Life) is hitting .438 (7-for-16).
Billy Hayes (Lemont) and Anthony Garza (Warren) have the team’s only home runs, and Costabile and James Sheldon (Downers Grove North) lead with 13 RBIs. CLC has stolen 30 bases, with Costabile accounting for 10.
More Top Picks Best Handheld Magnifiers For Low Vision
On the mound, sophomore David Meade (Antioch) has emerged as the ace. He is 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA. He has struck out 26 in 23.2 innings and allowed just 13 hits.
Sophomore Luke Samson (Mundelein) is 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA, and freshman Nichols Seketa (Lakes) is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA. The team ERA is 4.05.
Last year, Lake County and Waubonsee tied for first in the Skyway Conference at 10-4.
LFC softball
For the second straight year, Lake Forest College’s softball team is dominating the competition during the regular season.
After going 28-10 last year and qualifying for the NCAA Division III tournament, the Foresters haven’t missed a beat this spring, starting with nine wins in a row and later stringing eight wins together.
On Monday, the Foresters split a doubleheader with Carthage College in nonconference play, losing 5-4 and winning 10-6.
The Foresters (18-4) will next play Friday through Sunday in the Midwest Conference Classic in Janesville, Wis. They lead the South Division of the Midwest Conference at 4-0, while Carroll is 2-0 and leads the North Division.
Three area graduates play for LFC. Starting catcher Alex Hemmer from Mundelein is hitting .350 with four homers and a team-high 23 RBIs.
Sally Snarski from Carmel is the starting first baseman. She has hit a team-high five homers, driven in 21 runs and is hitting .365.
Also on the team is infielder Raquel Ness from Grayslake North.
LFC’s team batting average is .336.
Carthage is 8-10 on the season. The only area graduate on the team is junior outfielder Jessica Catinella from Grant. She starts and is hitting .242. She had an RBI single in the 5-4 win over LFC on Monday that helped offset Hemmer’s solo home run.
In Game 2 against Carthage, LFC’s Hemmer and Snarski were a combined 6-for-7 with two runs scored and an RBI. Catinella was 1-for-3 with a run scored in Game 2 for Carthage.