In a nonconference baseball game that breezed by in less than an hour and a half, Lake Zurich sophomore pitcher Ben Cornelius dominated Schaumburg’s hitters en route to a 1-0 victory on Saturday, April 23.
Cornelius scattered just three hits, walked two and struck out six during the shutout to improve his record to 3-1.
“I feel like I’ve got good command of my pitches,” Cornelius said. “I’m locating my fastball better now. I can put my fastball where I want instead of losing command and it hurting me.”
He’s given the Bears a big boost in their rotation. In his first 23 varsity innings, Cornelius has posted a 2.13 ERA. He credits an offseason mental adjustment for helping the transition from the freshman team to varsity.
“I’ve really gotten my mental focus to be a lot sharper,” Cornelius said. “I’m not walking as many guys, and I’m really trying to slow down and not rush on the mound. Once I started slowing things down a bit, and thinking about and realizing what I had to do to get guys out, the wins started coming.
“And I have to thank my defense, too, because (second baseman) Austin (Matuszewski) saved the game in the top of the sixth with his diving grab when the bases were loaded with two outs.”
Bears interim manager Tom Reagan, who took over when former coach Chuck Gandolfi was dismissed by the district earlier this month, says Cornelius is blossoming.
“He’s been solid for us all year, but this was by far his best start of the year against Schaumburg,” Reagan said. “You can see his confidence growing each time he’s out there.”
Cornelius isn’t the only young arm in Lake Zurich’s improving rotation. Juniors Shane Nolan (1-2, 3.34 ERA) and Matt Svanson (2-1, 0.36 ERA) have also stood tall as two of the team’s top starters. Svanson shined earlier this month when he didn’t allow a run during an eight-inning no decision against Warren. Lake Zurich senior Nick Sanders picked up the victory in relief in the ninth.
Svanson had a no-hitter broken up with one out in the seventh against Zion-Benton a few weeks ago. Perhaps more importantly, both were division wins. The Bears (8-8 as of Monday, April 25) are off to a promising 3-1 start in the North Suburban Lake, with their only loss being a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Warren the other time they met.
“Our pitching staff is going to keep getting better,” Svanson said. “We’re focused on competing right now, but the future’s bright. Even next year, most of the guys who are contributing on the mound should probably return. That’s gonna be huge.”
Lake Zurich has a team ERA of just under 2.40.
“If our defense can limit mistakes, our pitching staff will only look that much better,” Reagan said. “We said going into the season we’d have to lean heavily on our pitching, and that’s turned out to be true. It’s going to make guys getting timely hits even more important for us down the stretch, because our arms are keeping us in almost every ballgame.”
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Tim Froehlig is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @TFroehlig