Baseball: ‘Our guy’ McHenry’s Lleyton Grubich answers the call in IHSA Class 4A semifinal start against Mundelein

McHenry starting pitcher Lleyton Grubich delivers during the Class 4A baseball state semifinal game against Mundelein on Friday at Duvy Health and Care Field in Joliet.

JOLIET – McHenry junior Lleyton Grubich has found himself in big situations all year long in a record-breaking season for the Warriors.

None was bigger than getting the starting assignment for Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal against Mundelein.

Grubich entered Friday’s game with a 6-2 record in 12 games, a tidy 1.98 ERA, 67 strikeouts and 21 walks in 53 innings, the most innings of any Warriors’ hurler. It was no wonder why McHenry coach Brian Rockweiler felt so good sending the left-hander to the bump at Joliet’s Duly Health & Care Field.

Mundelein beat McHenry, 12-0, to reach Saturday’s state final against Edwardsville, but Grubich, a two-year varsity starter, did his part with five strong innings, allowing three earned runs, striking out nine and walking one.

McHenry (30-9), playing in its first state tournament in program history, will face Brother Rice (35-6) for third place at approximately 3 p.m. Saturday.

“Lleyton’s been our guy all year, and nothing takes away from one pitch here or there today,” Rockweiler said.

Grubich, who pitched McHenry to its first sectional championship in program history, whiffing 10 batters in a complete-game win over Fox Valley Conference champion Huntley in the Jacobs Sectional final six days ago, had everything working early against Mundelein.

After hitting the first batter of the game, Grubich struck out the next three as the Warriors’ dugout erupted in delight. He then retired the Mustangs (29-5) in order in the bottom of the second before running into trouble in the third.

Not many Mustangs batters looked comfortable in the box in the first couple of innings.

Grubich said he tired around the third inning. He ended up tossing 91 pitches in five innings and might have had a more efficient day if not for a few errors by the Warriors and some bad luck in the field.

“I had really good stuff for two or three innings, and I simply just got tired,” Grubich said. “Our mojo and our energy in our dugout just simply deflated, and it started to snowball.”

McHenry senior Kyle Kaempf, a pitcher and shortstop and one of the team’s leaders, has gotten a good look at Grubich throughout the course of the Warriors’ record-breaking season. He said Grubich has grown up a ton.

“Lleyton and [junior catcher] Cooper [Cohn], specifically, were sophomores and had huge roles starting last year,” said Kempf, who will play next year at NCAA Division II Missouri Southern State. “This year, they were dominant. They played up with all of us, just like they were our age; they really had to grow up this year and stepped up in huge roles.

“You always want to get back here, and hopefully they can do it again.”

McHenry will bring home its first state trophy in baseball no matter Saturday’s outcome. Before this season, the Warriors had never even reached a sectional final.

Grubich was thankful for his time spent on and off the field with McHenry’s nine seniors, seven of which started Friday.

“They’ve been my good friends for the last two years, and I’m glad they were a part of my life,” Grubich said. “I think we’ll be capable of a ton next year. I feel like we have a lot of talent on our team. We simply just have to play as a team and have high energy in our dugout.

“I feel like we’ll win a lot of games next year.”