Greenspon Nearly No-Hits Rival Libertyville

It was a close call. Was winning pitcher Isaac Greenspon happy or sad after finishing his complete game win over Libertyville on Tuesday in Lincolnshire?

How could the senior possibly be unhappy? Simply, he came as close as possible to pitching a no-hitter. After striking out his 11th Wildcats hitter of the day, Greenspon looked into Libertyville's eighth-place hitter, Davis Ogilive. He reached the count of 3-2 before Ogilvie bounced a clean single to right field.

's 5-1 win was certainly highlighted by Greenspon's brilliant effort on the mound.

"Anytime, we win a game, I'm happy,'' Greenspon said. "I would have been happier to get the no-hitter."

Actually after two innings of this NSC Lake Division clash, Greenspon and the Patriots trailed 1-0. A three-base error and infield ground out ended his shutout bid early.

"He did a great job,'' said Stevenson coach Paul Mazucca. "He had great command of the strike zone. He had a hard curve ball with a nice bite to it. That helped his fastball."

Even Libertyville coach Jim Schurr congratulated Greenspon on his great outing.

"He threw three pitches for strikes,'' Schurr noted.

Stevenson (4-0) knotted the score up its half of the third inning. Brandon Waters and leadoff hitter Mike Martin had hits and a wild pitch put the Pats on the board. Two more runs went up in the fourth inning and put Stevenson ahead for good. Junior Steve Galanopoulos had the lone hit in the frame as a pair of walks and wild pitches led to the runs.

Four straight hits from the bottom of the Stevenson order knocked in the game's final two runs. Blake Fiedelman led off the rally with a single. Ricky Kern's bunt hit kept the inning going. Center fielder Max Golembo roped an RBI hit and Waters followed with another hit.

Golembo also played a key role in the no-hit bid. In the second inning, the  junior collared a ball at the fence. His diving catch highlighted the fourth inning.

"Max gets good jumps on the ball,'' Greenspon said. "And he's fast."

Greenspon seemed to get stronger as the game went on. The Stetson University-bound pitcher struck out the side in the sixth. When he opened the seventh with two more strikeouts, it looked like the no-hitter was safe.