Stevenson downs top-ranked Mundelein

Updated: May 7, 2011 7:16PM

As top-ranked Mundelein opened the season winning its first 20 games, the Mustangs deservedly hogged the headlines. With much less fanfare, however, No. 10 Stevenson was putting together another strong season. Not that anyone was noticing.

Notice served.

Perennial power Stevenson seized control of the tough North Suburban Lake Conference with a scrappy 6-2 victory over a swooning Mundelein club that has now lost three straight games Saturday at Mundelein.

“Obviously [Mundelein] were the frontrunners,” said Stevenson coach Paul Mazzuca. “I think we were buried somewhere under the lead story, on the back page.”

Thanks to a gritty pitching effort by senior right-hander Isaac Greenspon (4-0), solid defensive play and some clutch two-strike hitting from the bottom of the lineup, Stevenson (19-2, 7-0) is again front-page news, a position the Patriots held all last season during their run to a Class 4A third-place finish.

Mundelein (20-3, 6-3), on the other hand, fell three games out of first place with Game 2 of the series scheduled for Monday at Stevenson.

“We’re trying to one-up last year’s team,” said Greenspon, a Stetson University recruit.

After allowing a two-run homer to Torr Randau in the second inning, Greenspon settled in and kept Mundelein’s hitters off balance with a heavy diet of sharp breaking balls. In six innings, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Greenspon allowed three hits, struck out five, walked five and hit one batter.

“At the beginning I was really anxious,” said Greenspon. “This game was (rained out) twice, so I was excited to get out there. As the game went on, I felt real comfortable.”

Early on, Stevenson’s offense couldn’t figure out Mundelein senior right-hander Ben Mahar (7-1), who carried a no-hitter through three innings. Stevenson finally strung together four singles in the fourth inning and pushed across four runs. Junior shortstop Adam Walton delivered the big hit, a line shot off Mahar’s foot that scored two runners.

No. 9 hitter, left fielder Brandon Waters, also had an RBI single in the fourth, and added a run-scoring single during the Patriots’ two-run fifth to make it 6-2. Waters finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a triple.

“Early on, we didn’t know how it would turn out,” said Walton, who is verbally committed to the University of Illinois. “The first couple at-bats, Mahar was overpowering, but we put it together.”

Mahar, a Valparaiso recruit, finished with eight strikeouts, five walks, five hits and four earned runs in 4 2/3 behind a fastball that climbed as high as 91 mph. Junior left-hander Ryan Borucki pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Mundelein, striking out six, behind an electric two-seam fastball that topped at 89 mph.

“For whatever reason, we started to feel sorry for ourselves,” said Mundelein coach Todd Parola. “We took a major step backwards today.”

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