By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

PLAINFIELD, IL - Few programs in the state has had more quality pitching depth, year in and year out over the last decade, than Plainfield North.

The No. 14 Tigers showed Saturday that even the lower levels are well-stocked when coach John Darlington leaned on two newly minted sophomores to take down No. 9 Lemont, 5-3, in a non-conference contest between two perennial powers.

Cody Harrison and Josh Fleming, both Class of 2019 right-handers, worked five of the seven innings to help Plainfield North improve to 20-6 on the season. The Tigers, who finished fourth in the Class 4A state tournament last season, also started two sophomores and three juniors in the lineup.

Harrison started the game, going 2.1 innings, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out one and walking one. After Harrison yielded three runs in the third inning, Darlington turned to Fleming, who proceeded to get two quick outs to escape further damage in the third. Fleming, a wiry-athletic 5-foot-11, 155-pounder, pitched 2.2 innings of hitless baseball and struck out two and walked two. Senior RHP Ryder Stein closed out the game, working two shutout innings, yielding one hit.

Plainfield North came out hot, scoring two quick runs on Lemont (22-3), kick-started by leadoff junior Dillon McCarthy turning on the first pitch for a single.

Lemont bounced back in the third, scoring three runs behind three hits and a walk to take a brief 3-2 advantage. Senior CF Joe Kelley squibbed an RBI single past the first baseman, then Texas Tech-bound KC Simonich smoked a run-scoring double to right field.

Lemont’s lead was short-lived, as Plainfield North scored two in the bottom half of the third to take the lead for good. Sophomore LF Cam Kissel lined an RBI single in the inning, and junior SS Gavin Doyle also doubled and scored. Doyle finished 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, and McCarthy reached base four times with a hit, two walks and scored a run.

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

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