Mundelein Hangs On To Beat Libertyville

June 1, 2017

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Mundelein 4, Libertyville 3

GLENVIEW, IL – Half of Mundelein’s six losses in the regular season came from Libertyville, who swept them in a three-game set during the season. On Thursday afternoon however, in a one-and-done situation, Mundelein paid them back, winning a tight 4-3 ball game, advancing to the Sectional Championship on Saturday.

Libertyville (30-7) made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 4-2. The leadoff man walked and the next batter hit a fly ball to left-center field. As the left fielder was trying to track the ball down, he slipped and fell, resulting in a double and runners at second and third with nobody out. Brendan Murphy, the Mundelein (32-6) starter, struck out the next two batters, bringing up Luke Plunkett with two outs. After a wild pitch cut the lead to 4-3, Plunkett hit what looked to be groundball single through the right side of the infield. Mundelein first baseman, Steven Sanchez, ranged quickly to his right, snagged the groundball and flipped it to Murphy covering first for the third and final out.

Murphy, an Arizona State commit was impressive throughout. The senior, southpaw finished with a complete game, striking out 10, scattering four hits, three runs and three walks. His fastball sat comfortably at 88-90 mph throughout, touching 91 on occasion. Murphy also flashed an advanced three-pitch mix keeping hitters off balance with a sharp slider and swing-and-miss changeup.

Murphy’s one mistake of the game came in the bottom of the third inning when Libertyville’s Micah Holzworth jumped on a pitch, driving it over the wall in left field for a two-run homerun, tying the game at two.

Mundelein broke the 2-to-2 tie in the top of the sixth inning when Mason Schaller lined a single to right field, scoring Ryan Magee who led off the frame with a walk. They tacked on another run, taking a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning when Sanchez doubled and later scored on a Magee single to left field.

Mundelein jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to two errors, three walks and no hits.

Sanchez, an Arkansas commit, led the way offensively for Mundelein, finishing the game 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and a walk.

Mundelein advances to the Sectional Championship game Saturday where they will face Warren.

For more in-depth notes from the game - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog later.