By Sean Duncan

VILLA PARK - If there is a pitching staff that could slow down No. 4 Stevenson, surely it had to be Lakes, a team that features three hard-throwing aces.

On Thursday, Lakes threw all three pitchers at the Patriots and it still didn’t matter, as Stevenson earned a 6-2 road victory in the North Suburban Conference championship game.

Stevenson (28-3), the Lake Division champion, scored three runs in the second inning, spurred by St. Xavier-bound centerfielder Corey Lasky’s two-run single, and never looked back. Lakes, the Prairie Division representative for the second straight year, dropped to 22-10.

“I think we’ve gotten a lot of publicity about our offense, and we knew coming in about their pitchers,” said Lasky, who finished with three RBI. “It was power pitching vs. power hitting, and the power hitting came out on top.”

Northwestern-bound shortstop Kyle Ruchim went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, and senior second baseman Teddy Heiser added an RBI double in the third inning to give Stevenson a 4-2 lead. Senior catcher Jeff Ferstein contributed a double and a RBI for the Patriots, who swept Warren in convincing fashion earlier in the week to advance to championship game.

In all, the Patriots tallied eight hits but struck out 12 times against Lakes’ pitchers: starter Travis Vanderwall (6-2), senior left-hander D.J. Snelton (University of Minnesota) and junior right-hander Nick Hibbing (University of Iowa), who struck out four in one inning work in the seventh. The 6-foot-6 Snelton, who’s drawing pro interest, came in the third inning in relief of Vanderwall and struck out six in four innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs. Snelton’s fastball climbed to 90 mph at some points. Hibbing, a 6-foot-5 high-ceiling junior, was up to 87 with his fastball.

“We knew what they had,” said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca. “A lot of the seniors have faced guys like that. It’s nothing new.”

Meanwhile, Stevenson’s combination of senior right-hander Greg Kingery and junior lefty Blake Fiedelman limited Lakes to seven hits. Fiedelman threw four innings of scoreless relief, allowing three hits and striking out six with no walks.

“This was our first goal of the season to win the conference championship,” said Ruchim. “It was good for our seniors to go out like this, but we still have more to go.”

Lakes scored both its runs in the second inning on three hits. Paul Kukulka singled and scored on a wild pitch, and sophomore second baseman Nick Traska (2-for-3), who had singled, scored on Kyle Noon’s double. Noon finished 2-for-3.

“There’s a reason why [Stevenson] is No. 1 in the state – they’re good,” said Lakes coach Bill Rosencrans. “I wasn’t too happy with the way we responded when they scored three runs. … I think we were pressing too much.”