Bears Crush Zee-Bees 8-3

Look out, here come the Bears.

Lake Zurich won their third straight game Monday, defeating the Zion-Benton Zee-Bees by a score of 8-3, as they improved their record to 11-14 and their conference record to 6-7.

Lake Zurich defeated Hersey 5-3 on Saturday, when Mark Dorfman and Jeremy Reusch each doubled and winning pitcher Mike Irgang pulled even on the season at 3-3, striking out five and walking two.

Last Thursday, the Bears avenged a loss to conference rival Stevenson the previous Tuesday, winning on the road handily, 11-3 behind the solid pitching of Mike Lutz. Stevenson had beaten them at home 5-4  in the first game of the home-away match-up. It was the Patriots’ first conference loss of the season after nine straight wins.

“We’re starting to pull together at the right time, with the quarterfinals and semifinals coming up,” said Bears coach Gary Simon. “You want to go into those games with some momentum. Winning three in a row is very helpful towards that end.” 

Lake Zurich struck first in their Monday contest against the conference rival Zee-Bees.  Second baseman Zach Till led off the bottom half of the first inning with a single to center field. After advancing to second when the catcher bobbled the ball while John Orlando was at the plate, Till moved over to third when Orlando grounded deep to the second baseman. Till scored moments later when third baseman Parker Asmann singled to Zee-Bee’s senior pitcher Cole Urban, who momentarily bobbled the ball.

Zion-Benton got the run back in the top of the second, when Kyle Pasiwicz walked and stole second. After senior Caleb Bardy struck out,  Kyle Shutz lined a single past first baseman Mike Schnur, scoring Pasiwicz.

Lake Zurich added a run in their half of the second for a 2-1 lead. Sean Eder reached second on a bad throw by the Zee-Bee’s shortstop. Pitcher Ben Gullo bunted Eder over to third, and Mitch Tuthill drove him in when he reached on a fielder’s choice, as Eder beat the throw from the first baseman. The Bears could have done even more damage, but Schnur struck out with the bases loaded.

The Zee-Bees jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the top of the third. Urban singled on a swinging bunt that dropped in front of catcher Reusch, and then advanced to second on a passed ball. After senior Zack Creekmore popped up to Till, Christian Martinez hit a two-run homer.

The score didn’t change again until the Bears’ big six-run sixth inning. Mark Dorfman led off with a screaming single past third base, and Sean Eder then lined a double to the deepest part of center field, scoring Dorfman to knot the score at 3-3. Gullo then bunted for a hit, advancing Eder to third. Tuthill singled to shallow center, driving in Eder. Till then legged out a single, loading the bases.

Orlando slashed a single to left, scoring Gullo and Tuthill, giving Lake Zurich a 5-3 lead. Asmann singled to right field, just past the outstretched arms of Zee-Bees’ senior first baseman Derreck Durfee. Schnur grounded out to the shortstop, scoring Till, and Reusch flied out to deep right for the second out of the inning, scoring Orlando for the sixth and final run of the inning.

Mark Dorfman, who led off the inning with his rally-starting single, grounded to second for the final out, as the Bears batted around, scoring a total of six runs on seven hits.

“Big innings like that really help the team,” said Simon. “Eder had the big hit, and then Benny (Gullo) bunted for a hit, and we just kept going after that."

Pitcher Ben Gullo turned in another solid performance on the mound, striking out 10 while walking five. He shut down the Zee-Bee’s offense after their two-run third inning, throwing four innings of hitless baseball for the complete-game victory.

“Another outstanding pitching effort by Ben,” said Simon. “He’s been solid the whole season, and so has the rest of our staff. If our hitting is more consistent, we should be in good shape heading into the quarters.”

 Bears Pause: There are five players on Lake Zurich who are committed to playing college baseball next year: Parker Asmann (Evansville); Ben Gullo (Eastern Kentucky); Mike Irgang and Mitch Tuthill (Benedictine University); and Brian Wiest (Rockford).

 Next Up: The Bears play Zion-Benton in Zion today at 4:30 in the second game of the conference home-away match-up between these NSC rivals. At 4:30 p.m. May 18th, Lake Zurich hosts North Chicago, and on Saturday, they travel to Evanston for a 10:00 a.m. game, their final regular contest of the season. The Bears will host Barrington in their quarterfinals game at 4:30 p.m. May 23.