By Sean Duncan

CRYSTAL LAKE – There wasn’t a happier person in the park to see Prairie Ridge junior left-hander Zack Coel get removed from Saturday’s tie game in the top of the seventh than Grayslake Central’s Jackson White. The left-handed hitting right fielder had struggled against Coel’s sweeping slider, striking out twice before getting pinched for another hitter.

“When the righty came in, I knew I’d get another chance,” said White. “I wanted to hit again.”

White got his chance, and laced a two-run double as Grayslake Central scored four runs in the seventh to upend host Prairie Ridge 7-5 in a Fox Valley Conference, Fox Division matchup.

Despite committing five errors, Grayslake Central (22-7, 16-5) moved within one game of division-leading Prairie Ridge (19-9, 14-4) with the two teams squaring off again Monday in Grayslake.

“You kind of feel like you stole one here,” said Grayslake Central coach Troy Whalen, who led his team to a third-place finish in Class 3A last year. “But to the kids’ credit, they know how to win and they never give up.”

Prairie Ridge’s offense had been quiet up until the bottom of the sixth, when they scored three runs to mount its first lead, 4-3. The Rams’ seventh-inning rally began with a one-out single by Andrew Hosford, who came around to score on Mike Gentile’s double to tie the game. That ended the day for the 6-fooot-5 Coel (8-1), who allowed eight hits, struck out four and walked one in 6 1/3 innings.

Sophomore right-hander Corey Peterson came in and quickly got an out. But then Angelo Gargano (2-for-2, two RBI) was hit by a pitch, which brought the re-entered White to the plate.

“I knew he wasn’t going to be walking me because I’ve been striking out,” White said. “I knew I was going to get a good pitch to hit.”

White’s double scored both runners to break the tie, and he eventually scored on a single by Kevin DeRue (2-for-4).

Prairie Ridge rallied for a run in the seventh, but Southern Illinois-bound right-hander Matt Murphy (7-0) closed out his six-hit complete game with the tying runs on base. Murphy, who didn’t receive much help from his infield defense, allowed two earned runs, struck out one, walked two and hit two batters to remain unbeaten.

“I didin’t feel like I had anything on the ball today,” Murphy said. “I don’t know what it was. … It was just one of those wins when you’re like, ‘Wow,’ can’t really believe it. But I’ll take it. You can’t really complain about a win.”

Grayslake Central didn’t waste any time as it scored twice in the first inning. Gargano drove in Gentile on a two-out single, and Joe Schaiper also had a RBI on a groundout. The Rams were cruising along with a 3-1 advantage until the bottom of the sixth, when Prairie Ridge cobbled together three hits and took advantage of two errors to mount a 4-3 lead. Senior catcher Zach Siedlecki, who’s been on fire for the Wolves this season, doubled in a run and senior shortstop Chad Ljunggren (2-for-4) also drove in a run with a single, and scored the go-ahead run on a bang-bang play at the plate after a Grayslake Central error. Siedlecki, who’s hitting close to .500 this season, led Prairie Ridge with a pair of doubles and two RBI. On Friday, he had two doubles and a homer.

“We grabbed the momentum at the end,” said Prairie Ridge Glen Pecoraro. “I really felt when we went up 4-3 that the game was ours.”