Lincoln-Way North is back in black

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Joe Skarbek made one concession to the sauna-like weather on Monday afternoon, not having his Lincoln-Way North players run after their game with host Providence.

But Skarbek is standing firm on another score. No matter how high the temperature goes, the Phoenix won't be losing its black uniform tops.

"I'm not going to go gold (North's other school color)," Skarbek said with a laugh. "It (would look) like we're going shirtless."

What North is going so far this summer is undefeated. The Phoenix moved to 6-0 by beating the Celtics 7-2 Monday in South Suburban Summer League action.

Alex Eaton worked four scoreless innings for the win, striking out five, giving up one walk and three hits and losing a few pounds in the process. Eric Wilson finished up, allowing two runs on four hits over three innings.

"It was hot," Eaton said. "I was dying after the first inning."

Eaton is usually North's starting third baseman, but his effort on the mound is indicative of how much deeper the Phoenix will go in its second varsity season.

Making its varsity debut in the rugged SouthWest Suburban Conference with a senior-free roster this spring, North went 11-16 overall and 5-10 in league play.

Expectations will be considerably greater in 2010.

"We didn't have as strong a team as we do now," Eaton said. "The bar's pretty high."

"I certainly want to contend for the conference championship," Skarbek said. "It was pretty cool to see St. Rita and Sandburg in the (Class 4A) sectional final. I wish we could get to the sectional final and then just let the chips fall."

The Phoenix would like to take a small-ball route to the big game. They stole three bases in four tries on Monday, a trend that figures to continue given the speed Skarbek has at his disposal.

"Seven of those nine guys (in the starting lineup) are probably sub-four (seconds) down the (first-base) line," the North coach said.

The offense was a group effort on Monday, as no Phoenix player had more than one hit and only Zach Reid -- whose two-run double keyed a four-run sixth -- had more than one RBI.

Providence, which was missing most of its regulars due to travel-ball commitments, was paced by Sam Travis (2-for-3, double, RBI).