Prep Baseball Report

Libertyville overcomes errors to hammer Stevenson



By Drake Skleba

LINCOLNSHIRE – In a game that featured 26 runs, 27 hits and a whopping 14 errors, Libertyville overcame some early woes to crush arch-rival Stevenson 18-8 on Tuesday.

In a big North Suburban Conference Lake Division battle, the two teams combined for seven first inning errors, four by Libertyville, which resulted in a 4-1 Stevenson (12-7; 3-2) lead. Stevenson picked up another unearned run in the second and looked to be on its way to a huge Lake Division win.

Libertyville scored a single run in the third and then exploded for four runs in the fourth, highlighted by a monster three-run homer by Wildcat sophomore catcher Evan Skoug. Skoug would finish with three hits and four Wildcat RBI.

“I put some good swings on the ball today and my hard work is beginning to pay off,” said Skoug. “We struggled early but really buckled down and played great defense the rest of the way. Kyle pitched a great game for us.”

Stevenson plated two in the bottom half of the fourth to regain the lead at 7-6. Libertyville went on to score the next 12 runs, five in the fifth, one in the sixth and six in the seventh to open up an 18-7 lead.

Stevenson added a run in the bottom of the seventh to complete the scoring in this less than artistic contest at Stevenson.

Libertyville starting and winning pitcher senior RHP Kyle Cibrario (5-1) went through the complete gamut of emotions as his teammates could not catch the baseball. On three successive plays in the Stevenson first inning, the Wildcats booted routine grounders which led to four unearned Stevenson runs. Another dropped fly ball in the second led to another unearned Patriot run.

Cibrario pitched masterfully through the lack of support defensively. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing only two earned runs with six strikeouts to pick up his fifth win of the season.

“My teammates dropped a few balls early but caught everything after that,” said Cibrario. “We really hit the ball well today and my teammates scored a lot of runs for me.”

Hitting stars were many for Libertyville (13-6; 4-1) led by senior SS Anthony Mack. Mack had three hits and three RBI. Wildcat junior right fielder Matt Vogt duplicated Mack's totals with three hits and three RBI. Junior Justin Guarnaccio drove in three runs with a pair of clutch singles.

“I tried not to go for the fences but just do my job and drive in runs. We had a lot of men in scoring position and it was important I got a good swing on the ball,” said Mack. “It was great to beat our biggest rival.”

Stevenson was led by Patriot second baseman Alex Karras, who had a big two-run double among his two hits. Patriot RF Anthony D'Angelo had two hits and an RBI.

“When we win a game like that we are very fortunate,” said Libertyville head coach Jim Schurr. “Kyle did a great job under terrible circumstances. Evan and Anthony had great days at the plate for us. We really hit the ball well today but we are going to have to play a lot better tomorrow to beat those guys again.”