By Brian Duffy

VERNON HILLS – In a battle for North Suburban Prairie supremacy, Vernon Hills defeated Antioch 7-2 on Tuesday behind another strong outing by junior left-hander Tyler Feece.

Feece improved to 9-1 on the season for Vernon Hills (21-7) after throwing 6.1 innings of solid ball. Feece’s fastball sat at 81-82 mph and topped at 83 mph. Feece was able to pick up outs and work out of tough situations throughout the game. The hard-nosed left-hander has the ability to throw three pitches for strikes and kept the Antioch hitters off-balance at the plate. Senior left-hander MJ Crowley came in to close out the victory.

David Meade took the loss for Antioch and fell to 5-3 on the season. Meade sat at 80-81 and topped at 82 mph. Meade was able to keep the Cougars at bay early on with a tight breaking ball. In the third, though, Vernon Hills broke the game open with a four-run inning. Senior catcher and Butler commit Chris Marras drove in one with a triple and senior Ethan McGrew drove in two with a double.

Senior Austin Hagen also swung the bat well for the Cougars and helped Vernon Hills tack on some runs late in the game.

Senior Antioch catcher and Heartland CC commit Joseph Gregory, who recently returned from injury, showed well. He will look to be an impact player offensively and defensively the remainder of the season. Sophomore OF/LHP Jerry LaSaint added a hit in the seventh for Antioch, but Crowley was able to shut the door on a Antioch comeback.