Vikings Sports Roundup: Baseball Looks to Swing Out of Batting Slump

Baseball: Niles North couldn’t have asked for a better trip to Florida. The Vikings went 4-0 in the Sunshine State and came back to Skokie with a ton of confidence.

Unfortunately, that success hasn’t transferred over to the cold weather as the Vikings (8-8 overall, 0-1 CSL North) are now mired in a six-game losing streak.

While the pitching staff has overcome some control problems–Vikings’ pitchers were averaging more than 10 walks or hit batters each game--in the last four games, the offense hasn’t hit its stride.

“We’ve been lacking some timely hitting,” coach Ed Toledo said. “When the opportunity has been there to break a game open, we have not gotten that big hit yet.”

Toledo knows that every hitter struggles at some point during the season, but it seems most batters in the Viking lineup is going through their slump now.

Adam Warda, who is signed to play at Southern Illinois University, has been carrying the Viking offense so far with 24 RBIs, but opponents are starting to pitch around him.

Until the offense breaks out of its slump, the pitching staff will have to keep shouldering the load for Niles North. Starters Joe Markus (3.55 ERA), Matt Simon (3.54 ERA) and Nick Lumley (2.63 ERA) have anchored the Vikings’ rotation.

“If we had to look in hindsight prior to the season we would’ve been happy given some of the progress some of the kids have made,” Toledo said. “The hope is that the pitching will continue to go and our hitting will start to pick up and put us on the right side of the win-loss column more often than not.”

Girls Track and Field: The Vikings took second place, finishing only behind Niles West, during the Niles West Invitational last week.

Clara Williamson won the 800-meter race (2:33.17) and Kiana Foreman took first place in the 400-meter (1:05.33) for Niles North. Sprinter Whitney Jean was runner-up in both the 100-meter race (12.92) and 200-meter (27.48).

Lilly Wong paced the field events by finishing third in the triple jump (32-3) and the high jump (4-6).

Boys Gymnastics: Niles North finished in third place out of 11 teams at the Dave Donaldson Invitational at Wheaton Warrenville South on April 15. The Vikings (126.75 points) beat out Central Suburban League (CSL) rivals Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South.

Competing without senior Manny Magbanua, Brian Oh finished fourth on the horse exercise (8.5) and took seventh in the all-around competition (44.20).

Niles North also defeated Glenbrook North (134.3- 127.6) in a home dual meet on April 19.

Girls soccer: Niles North completed an undefeated week, going 2-0-1. The Vikings got an important CSL North victory over Maine West.

The Vikings tied Mundelein 1-1 a day after they beat Northside Prep 3-0 on April 15

SCOREBOARD WATCHING:

Boys Volleyball:

Loyola defeats Niles North 18-25, 25-21, 27-25 on April 18

Niles North defeats Northside College Prep 25-17, 20-25, 25-11 on April 15

Baseball:

Northside College Prep 1, Niles North 0 on April 16