On a windy Monday afternoon, a North Suburban Conference battle between two teams off to strong starts this spring took place when the Mundelein Mustangs hosted the Stevenson Patriots at The Corral. It was the Mustangs who came out on top, securing a 12-7 victory over the Patriots in the first of a two game set between these teams.

Mundelein (8-0) came out of the gates hot, scoring seven runs in the first inning. Senior leadoff man OF Matthew Peterson (uncommitted) doubled twice in the frame, sending both balls deep into the left-center gap, and came around to score after the first double while eventually driving in a pair with the second. 1B Daniel Pacella (2022; Kentucky) punished an outside fastball with authority into the left-center gap for a two-run double, and both OF Chris Rooney (2021; Concordia-Wisocnsin) and INF Cristian Santiago (2021; uncommitted) drove in a run on singles.

It was the Patriots who answered with five runs of their own in the top half of the second inning by taking advantage of a few defensive miscues from the Mustangs, although sophomore INF Colin Schmitke punched a single into right field for his lone hit of the day that drove in two runs. Both teams would score their final runs of the game in the third and fourth innings with 19 runs total scored between these two clubs.

The main takeaway from this game was the performance by Mustangs’ uncommitted senior RHP Jack Bikus. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Bikus got the nod for Mundelein in this one and twirled six quality innings, allowing just four earned runs and striking out nine over that span. He was locked in from the beginning, attacking hitters with an 83-85 mph fastball early on and eventually settled into the 82-83 mph range as his outing went on. Although he was able to miss bats with his fastball, his success hinged off a sharp, well-spun low-70s mph curveball that flashed real swing-and-miss actions several times throughout this outing. He showed complete confidence in it and he threw it whenever he wanted to, regardless of the count. It’s a pitch that tunnels well off his fastball, especially when Bikus would purposefully elevate his heater to then set up a curveball down in hopes of getting a swing-and-miss. It was an impressive outing for the uncommitted Bikus, who should continue to string quality innings for Mundelein as the spring rolls on.

On the mound here for @MundyBaseball is RHP Jack Bikus (2021; uncommitted). 6-foot-2, 170-pounds. Came out at 83-85 mph with the FB in the 1st, settled in at 80-82 here in the 3rd. Confident in CB, 70-73 mph, several have flashed sharp swing-and-miss spin. 7 Ks through 3 IP ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/bcbAbrbx3o

— PBR Illinois (@PBRIllinois) April 26, 2021

These two teams will meet again for the last time on Tuesday, April 27th when Stevenson hosts Mundelein at 4:45 p.m. Mundelein improves to 8-0 on the season with this victory, while the Patriots drop to 5-2.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

+ RHP Jack Bikus (Mundelein): 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 9 K, 4 BB, 100 pitches, 1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB
+ OF Matthew Peterson (Mundelein): 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 RS, BB, HBP
+ 1B Daniel Pacella (Mundelein): 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, RS, BB, HBP
+ INF Cristian Santiago (Mundelein): 1-for-3, 2 RBI, BB, RS  
+ 2B Mark Skarzynski (Mundelein): 1-for-3, 3 RS, 2 BB
+ 1B Michael Belbot (Stevenson): 2-for-4, RBI, RS
+ 2B Ethan Ge (Stevenson): 2-for-3, RS, BB

For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.

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