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Sports

L-W North Quick to Put it All Together

Pitching, hitting and fielding: The Phoenix can do it all. And that's the reason they've won 30 games, two straight regional titles.

In just its third year of varsity action, the Lincoln-Way North baseball team has made a name for itself. The Phoenix have won back-to-back regional titles. And they're working on a 30-win season.

“It says a whole lot about a team when you can win in different ways,” Lincoln-Way North coach Joe Skarbek said after the Phoenix edged Brother 3-2 on Saturday to win the Homewood-Flossmoor Regional.  “We have won games by scoring 20 runs and by winning 2-0.”

The Phoenix regional title win over Brother Rice was one of the close, low-scoring wins. They took advantage of three Crusader errors to score two unearned runs. And that proved to be the difference.

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“We made way too many mistakes and all of our mistakes cost us,” Crusader coach Dan Szmergalski said. “Our errors led to all three of their runs. When you play a good team and you're making the mistakes, good teams capitalize on that and they did a good job of doing that.”

Phoenix ace Jake Harper picked up the win. He pitched much like he did the first time the two teams met earlier in the season, a 4-2 Phoenix win.

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“Jake (Harper) threw that ball well again against us, and he got stronger in the last two innings,” Szmergalski said.

Harper only made two mistakes in the game. The first was a wild throw on a pickoff attempt at second base, and the second was on a pitch that Brother Rice's Conor Sullivan hit for a solo homer.

“Jake (Harper) battled today and he had his good stuff going,” Skarbek said.

Leadoff hitter Jack Irace sparked the North offense, getting three hits and scoring a run.

“Two off my hits were off the end of the bat, but I will take those any day just as long as I get on base,” Irace said.

The regional title was another goal the Phoenix had hoped to accomplish this season.

“We got the conference championship, swept the Lincoln-Ways, so it feels good," Harper said. "But our next goal is to win sectionals."

If Harper (8-1) continues to pitch the way he did against Brother Rice, the Phoenix will be awfully tough to beat.

“With Harper on the mound, we can win on any day,” Irace said.

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