Meyer leads CL into American Legion tournament final

Crystal Lake’s Brian Marquis pitches against a Wheaton batter Saturday in the District 11 American Legion Baseball Tournament at Crystal Lake Central. (Dave Shields – For the Northwest Herald) ( ())

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CRYSTAL LAKE – Gavin Meyer was outstanding at the plate for a second consecutive game Saturday, and the rest of the Crystal Lake American Legion baseball team took its cue from its leadoff man.

Meyer had five hits, drove in four runs and homered as Crystal Lake beat Wheaton, 13-8, to advance to the District 11 Tournament final today against Elgin at Crystal Lake Central.

Crystal Lake scored in double digits for the second consecutive game after defeating Elgin, 15-9, on Thursday.

“We have been swinging the bat well as a team, and we were able to carry that over from last game,” said Meyer, who has 11 hits in the past two games. “If we keep doing what we are doing, we will be fine.”

Crystal Lake made a seamless transition from Thursday’s 15-run performance, scoring five runs in its first at-bat Saturday.

Meyer and Lee Spinelle led off the first with back-to-back singles. Meyer was driven in on a Sean Wilson groundout, which was followed by an RBI single by Zachary Carpenter and an RBI double by Anthony Pauls.

Carpenter then scored on a safety squeeze by Adam Nisenson, and Pauls was driven in on a single by Daniel Walsh.

Wheaton responded with three runs in its half of the first. Both teams went scoreless in the second before Crystal Lake exploded for two runs in each of the next three innings, capped by Meyer’s two-run homer to left field in the fifth to push Crystal Lake’s lead to 11-3.

“It is exciting to be in the championship game of a tournament that we are hosting, and now we want to go out and win tomorrow,” Pauls said.

Wheaton scored five more runs, but Crystal Lake tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth for the final score.

Crystal Lake will play Elgin in the championship game at noon today at Crystal Lake Central. If Elgin wins, the second leg of the double-elimination championship will be at 3 p.m.

Woodstock lost to Elgin, 5-2, in an elimination game Saturday.