Mundelein continues surprising tear

Updated: April 9, 2011 7:38PM

No. 5 Mundelein has been the biggest surprise of the season so far, having already knocked off some top-level teams, and done so in convincing fashion.

The Mustangs proved it once again Wednesday, as they hammered visiting Lake Zurich 10-0 in six innings in a North Suburban Lake game. In the critical two-game conference series, Mundelein (10-0, 2-0) outscored Lake Zurich (2-6, 0-2) by a 19-1 margin.

"It's a good start of the season," said Mundelein coach Todd Parola, "but that's all it is – a start. We still have a lot of work to do."

Maybe so, but not on Wednesday. The Mustangs jumped on Evansville-bound, right-hander Parker Asmann early, scoring six runs in the first inning, and never looked back. Junior shortstop Chris Maranto set the tone with an opposite-field home run, and Mundelein's offense churned out five more hits in the first inning as it sent 11 batters to the plate. Lake Zurich's defense didn't help, either; The Bears committed two errors in the inning and had a misplayed ball in the outfield.

Mundelein senior left-hander Dante Martinez (3-0) took care of the rest. The 5-foot-10, 166-pound Martinez allowed only two hits – both in the third inning – struck out eight, walked one and hit one batter in his six-inning, complete-game outing.

"I felt really good today," said Martinez, who earlier in the season defeated perennial powerhouse Harrisburg during Mundelein's Southern Illinois trip. "Everything was working for me. Lake Zurich is a great team – they were predicted to win the conference – so this is really big for us. … Our bats have been really impressive. It makes it so much easier to pitch. It's comforting as a pitcher to know that our offense is going to score runs."

In all, Mundelein pounded out 14 hits. Senior catcher John DeVito had a misplayed triple in the first inning and finished with two hits and two RBI. D.J. Lewis, Luis Carrasco and Charlie Gandolfi each had two hits apiece, and junior Jordan Wiegold delivered a pinch-hit two-run double in the sixth to employ the mercy rule.

"We gave them seven outs in the first inning, and you can't do that against a good team," said Lake Zurich coach Gary Simon.

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