Glenbrook North’s hitters stepped out of the batter’s box at least a dozen times before Braden Grimm could deliver a pitch Thursday in Northbrook in an effort to disrupt his rhythm on the mound.
All that did was delay the inevitable – and a strikeout was usually the result.
The Evanston senior pitcher fanned a career high 13 and went the distance in a seven-inning game for the first time in his varsity career as the Wildkits completed a Central Suburban League South division sweep of the Spartans with a 5-1 triumph.
Grimm’s second brilliant mound effort in a row – the bullpen blew what should have been a win for the right-hander over New Trier a week ago – kept the Kits alive in the league baseball race and pulled them even at 3-3 in CSL South play. Evanston improved to 14-5-1 overall.
Grimm out-dueled North’s Asher Malin, who allowed a two-out, two-strike double by Owen Vander Velde that scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth inning. Vander Velde’s blow snapped a 1-1 tie; Avan Teuer followed with an RBI single, and the visitors pushed across two more runs in the seventh against reliever Noah Delgado.
Grimm helped his own cause with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate and drove in two runs.
Competition question
But his work on the mound was what prompted this question: Is anyone in the Central Suburban League pitching better than Grimm at this stage of the season?
ETHS head coach Frank Consiglio had the answer. “There’s a kid at New Trier who’s really good, and the CSL is loaded with good pitchers. But what Braden’s done lately hasn’t been matched,” Consiglio said. “Look at the back-to-back performances he’s put together. I’m not certain anyone’s better in the conference right now.
“After that second New Trier game, we’ve had tons of domination from our pitchers [against Buffalo Grove and in an 11-2 win over GBN]. We’ve gotten back to playing Evanston baseball.”
Grimm permitted the Spartans just three singles and pitched around trouble of his own making (a couple of walks in the second ) and created by his defense (two errors by shortstop Charlie Kalil in the fourth ) to go the distance with a 97-pitch effort.
‘Definitely a strategy,’ coach says
A guy who always likes to just get the ball and go on the mound, the senior standout doesn’t waste time between pitches. And opposing batters can’t get comfortable at the plate when Grimm is “on” and pounding the strike zone.
“It’s definitely a strategy when guys keep stepping out like that,” Consiglio said. “We tell our guys to do the same thing. Braden always wants to get out there and go, but when they’re stepping out like that, he has to step off and reset, or maybe throw over to first, to get back in rhythm. He’s a smart kid and he’s been able to make that adjustment. He’s found the mechanism to make it work for him.”
Everything worked for Grimm on Thursday against a Spartans’ program that has had more than its share of success against the Wildkits in head-to-head competition over the past five years.
“It was really good to be able to finish the game this time [he was removed from the New Trier loss in the sixth] and get the dub [W, or win],” Grimm said. “Definitely all that stepping out was a strategy. I’ve always liked to work quick.”
Buehrle fan’s advice
“My dad was a big fan of Mark Buehrle [former Chicago White Sox hurler known for
maintaining a quick pace on the mound]. He loved Buehrle’s rhythm and when he was teaching me to pitch he’d always tell me, ‘Don’t waste time out there, throw it and get back on the rubber.’ More teams are stepping out against me this year. I noticed it against Niles West, and my command really wasn’t there in that game.
“But at this point it’s not too big an issue for me. Coach Consiglio has really helped me to calm myself in those situations when other teams do that.”
Grimm found himself in a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second, thanks to two walks and a hit, but limited the damage as the hosts pushed across their only run on Jacob Meyers’ ground out to first base.
Rising to the occasion
In the fourth , the Wildkits scored their first run on a bases-loaded walk to Teuer. Two misplays by Kalil in the bottom half of the frame caused some uneasy moments in the ETHS dugout, but Grimm rose to the occasion with three strikeouts sandwiched around those miscues.
After that, North mustered just two baserunners, on a single by Delgado with two outs in the sixth and a pinch-hit single up the middle by Matt Ruttkay leading off the seventh.
Evanston’s breakthrough against Malin began with a walk to Grimm to start the sixth. Courtesy runner Alex Van Durmen, who was kept busy all day subbing in for his pitcher, got to third on an infield out and a wild pitch before Vander Velde’s clutch hit.
The ETHS junior pounced on a fastball on a 2-2 pitch and whacked it over the left fielder’s head. Teuer then delivered an RBI single to center.
In the seventh, the Kits sent eight batters to the plate but left the bases loaded after Grimm’s two-run double.