By Sean Duncan

MUNDELEIN - Amazing what a difference a week makes.

Not too long ago, No. 1 Mundelein was 20-0, snaking up the national polls, and was the toast of the Illinois. Meanwhile, No. 17 Stevenson was flying under the radar ? a position the Patriots are seldom afforded ? quietly putting together another stellar season.

Not anymore.

On Saturday, Stevenson handed Mundelein its third consecutive loss, by the tune of 6-2, highlighted by the Patriots? trademarks of strong pitching, solid defense, and an opportunistic offense. With the victory, Stevenson (19-2, 7-0) seized control of the tough North Suburban Lake Conference, while Mundelein (20-3, 6-3) dropped three games back with Game 2 of the series scheduled for Monday at Stevenson.

?Obviously [Mundelein] were the frontrunners,? said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca. ?I think we were buried somewhere under the lead story, on the back page.?

Thanks to a gritty pitching effort by senior right-hander Isaac Greenspon (4-0), Stevenson is again front-page news, a position the Patriots held all last season during their run to a Class 4A third-place finish.

?We?re trying to one-up last year?s team,? said Greenspon, a Stetson University recruit.

After allowing a two-run homer to Torr Randau in the second inning, Greenspon settled in and kept Mundelein?s hitters off balance with a heavy diet of sharp breaking balls. In six innings, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Greenspon allowed three hits, struck out five, walked five and hit one batter.

?At the beginning I was really anxious,? said Greenspon. ?This game was (rained out) twice, so I was excited to get out there. As the game went on, I felt real comfortable.?

In a game that featured some impressive pitching performances, Greenspon prevailed. His fastball sat in the mid-80s, topping at 86, and his curveball baffled Mundelein?s high-yielding offense.

Mundelein starter Ben Mahar (7-1), a 6-foot-3, 210-pound Valparaiso recruit, was also impressive behind a heavy 87-90 mph fastball that climbed as high as 91 once. Mahar finished with eight strikeouts, five walks, five hits and four earned runs in 4.2 innings.

Then there was Mundelein junior Ryan Borucki, a 6-foot-3, 165-pound left-hander, who pitched in relief of Mahar. Of all the games I?ve seen this year, Borucki?s two-inning stint was the most electric performance I?ve seen from a Class of 2012 prospect. Period. Borucki?s fastball checked in at 87-89 mph with wicked arm-side life. His fastball ran a good three inches at times; he also showed a sharp breaking ball and a plus changeup. Borucki, who recently verbally committed to Iowa, pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Mundelein, striking out six.

OK, back to the game.

Early on, Stevenson?s offense couldn?t figure Mahar, who carried a no-hitter through three innings. Stevenson finally strung together four singles in the fourth inning and pushed across four runs. Junior shortstop Adam Walton delivered the big hit, a line shot off Mahar?s foot that scored two runners.

No. 9 hitter, left fielder Brandon Waters, also had an RBI single in the fourth, and added a run-scoring single during the Patriots? two-run fifth to make it 6-2. Waters finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a triple.

?Early on, we didn?t know how it would turn out,? said Walton, who is verbally committed to the University of Illinois. ?The first couple at-bats, Mahar was overpowering, but we put it together.?

Austin Ozog had a hit and reached base three times for Mundelein.

 ?For whatever reason, we started to feel sorry for ourselves,? said Mundelein coach Todd Parola. ?We took a major step backwards today.?