The following reports were pulled from the latest police summaries provided by departments in our coverage area (Wilmette, Winnetka, Highland Park, Northfield, Kenilworth and Glencoe).
WILMETTE
May 31
• A wallet reportedly was stolen from a customer while shopping in the 400 block of Green Bay Road.
May 29
• An individual was arrested for allegedly vandalizing two Tesla vehicles earlier in the month in the 800 block of Chilton Lane.
May 28
• Two individuals were arrested for allegedly stealing tools from a work truck in the 1900 block of Washington Avenue and crashing a vehicle near an on ramp at Lake Avenue and Interstate 94. The individuals reportedly fled across I-94 before being apprehended and charged with theft and resisting arrest.
WINNETKA
May 30
• A power tool worth approximately $500 reportedly was stolen from the 1000 block of Gage Street.
May 28
• More than $5,000 worth of jewelry reportedly went missing from a resident’s home on Sept. 19, 2024.
GLENCOE
May 24
• An individual was arrested for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident on May 15.
May 23
• An unlocked car reportedly was stolen at approximately 4:51 p.m. from a parking lot at 1255 Sheridan Road. The car, which had the keys inside, reportedly was recovered in the 100 block of E. 13th Street in Chicago.
May 21
• Approximately $10,000 in jewelry reportedly went missing between May 14-20 from a home in the 100 block of Elm Ridge Drive.
HIGHLAND PARK
May 28
• A residence reportedly was vandalized in the 500 block of Onwentsia Avenue.
May 27
• A piece of jewelry valued at $4,000 reportedly was stolen from a woman’s restroom of a business at 806 Central Ave.
• A resident reportedly unknowingly purchased a stolen car for $4,000 on Facebook Marketplace.
NORTHFIELD
May 28
• A resident reportedly was scammed out of $29,000 after responding to a text message claiming PayPal fraud and requesting the resident deliver funds to remedy the fraud.
KENILWORTH
No incidents reported between May 23-30
The Record’s police reports are taken from police-activity summaries prepared by local police departments. Police Reports contain public information from preliminary reports and are not a complete listing of all police activity. The Record does not publish the names of individuals arrested and named in preliminary reports unless the incident is a matter of public safety or has significant community implications. All arrestees are innocent until proven guilty.
It was a celebration of Dr. Paul Sally Monday evening, as the New Trier High School Board of Education honored the retiring superintendent after 31 years of service to the district.
Sally, who has been superintendent since 2017, was attending his final School Board meeting on June 2 leading up to his June 30 retirement.
Board President Jean Hahn began by praising Sally’s tenure and his accomplishments as superintendent, including his development of the New Trier 2030 strategic plan, the creation of the district’s statement on critical thinking and civil discourse, his leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, and working to make sure everybody at New Trier feels that they belong at the school.
“Dr. Sally, we thank you for your 31 years of service, your wisdom, your compassion, your unwavering belief in the power of public education, and your humor,” she said. “You have left New Trier better than you found it. You will be greatly missed, but your influence will endure in the students’ lives you shaped, and the educators you inspired, and the community you served in. We wish you nothing but joy, adventure, and well-deserved rest in this next chapter.”
Board Vice President Sally Tomlinson said, thanks to the strategic plan, she can tell people who ask about New Trier that the district is “going great.”
“I think the reason I can say that is because the strategic plan leaves no room for uncertainty,” she said. “It lays out our mission, our vision, our values as a community and as an institution. And that is a tremendous gift that you have given us all and will continue to give.”
Board Member Joo Serk Lee, who only took office last month, said while he hasn’t had the chance to work with Sally often, he will never forget their first interaction.
Incoming superintendent Peter Tragos praises Sally during the May 6 event.
That encounter happened a couple years ago when Lee, as a parent, expressed a concern in an email to Sally.
“I went to fill a glass of water, and by the time I came back, you had already responded,” he said. “And that told me everything that I needed to know about you.”
Associate Superintendent Dr. Chris Johnson shared a slide that shared some facts about Sally’s tenure, including that he has worked at New Trier for more than 11,300 days, attended 115 regular and special School Board meetings, and wrote around 370 weekly letters to the board.
Incoming superintendent Dr. Peter Tragos, who is the district’s current assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the administrative team bonded under Sally’s leadership. He read from emails that had been sent by fellow administrators when Tragos asked them, “When you think of Paul, what comes to mind and why?”
Among the responses were, “He’s a great listener,” “He’s quick to praise and credit others,” “He’s laid back and approachable,” and “People feel seen and heard” by Sally.
“On behalf of the entire administrative team, thank you for being you,” Tragos said. “Because of you, we are a better team, better leaders (and) better people.”
Sally offers thanks
When it was his turn to speak, Sally thanked everyone for their “very kind words,” and called his time at New Trier “deeply rewarding.”
“I chose to go into high school education because I believe deeply in the vital role public high school plays in the community,” he said. “Nowhere is that role more powerfully realized than here at New Trier.”
He said that New Trier has been a leader and model for high school education and will continue to be in the future. Further, he said that the district is important not just for students and the community, “but for our region, our state and beyond.”
Sally thanked the community for supporting him and allowing him to be a part of New Trier for 31 years and all the board members he’s worked with over the past eight years, thanking them for their “unwavering commitment to students, to staff, to the community and to public education. That commitment is, without question, unmatched anywhere I’ve seen.”
He also called the staff “simply incredible,” and said without his fellow administrators, “There is no chance I’d be standing here without the support you’ve given me and your commitment to this institution.”
Sally concluded by thanking his wife, Gina, who was in the audience, and offering positive thoughts on the future.
“New Trier is in good hands with this board, with the new superintendent, with our administrative team, with our staff,” he said. “New Trier is in very good hands.”
Sally’s tenure
Sally began working at New Trier in 1994 as a math teacher. Reportedly, he had previously worked in software development but decided to change careers and become a teacher, following in the footsteps of his parents, who had been university professors.
During his 15 years as a math teacher, he was also an adviser and took on the role of math department coordinator. In 2009, he was promoted to assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, a role he held until 2017, when he was named superintendent to succeed the retiring Dr. Linda Yonke.
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The tradition of dining at 310 N. Happ Road will continue in Northfield.
Blowfish Contemporary Sushi has taken over the longtime home of Tapas Gitana, which closed at the end of 2024 after 27 years in the Northfield space.
The new spot opened on Monday, June 2, according to Blowfish cofounder and chef Puje Sukh.
Sukh and fellow chef Tuvshin Sukh launched Blowfish with a location in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood in 2015. The Northfield location is their second.
Puje Sukh told The Record that Blowfish adds a style of sushi, which he described as modern and less traditional, that is hard to find in the North Shore.
Blowfish can seat up to 40 on its patio.
A Northbrook resident, Sukh said he would often drive through Northfield and admired the location along Happ Road.
“It’s the right spot for our kind of food,” he said.
Blowfish specializes in sushi, ramen and poke bowls, and Sukh pointed to the Salmon Sunrise Bowl (poke) and Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen as two of Blowfish’s most popular dishes. The restaurant also offers a variety of signature sushi rolls.
Sukh said Blowfish’s use of Wagyu beef is one element that sets them apart. Wagyu can be found in the seared Wagyu signature roll (shiitake, avocado, cucumber, tempura asparagus, topped with Wagyu), as well as the seared Wagyu appetizer — both items are topped with the chef’s special jalapeno sauce.
Blowfish also features a full bar and selection of signature cocktails.
The restaurant can seat approximately 60 guests inside and another 40 or so on its outdoor patio.
Blowfish is open from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9:30 Monday-Saturday, and just dinner on Sunday.
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The third time is a charm, but no one talks about the tenth.
For New Trier senior Chris Ackerman, the tenth was a champ — just like him.
Coming off a state doubles championship as a junior, Ackerman needed a new partner this season and played with nine other teammates before locking in with Jayden Dussias, the only freshman on the varsity roster.
“After Jayden and I pulled out a tough one in our first match (against a Hinsdale Central duo), I thought we had the resilience and chemistry that it takes to last in the state tournament,” Ackerman said.
The senior’s instincts, backed by the trust of New Trier’s coaching staff, were proven right on Friday-Saturday, May 30-31, when he and Dussias capped off an undefeated IHSA Class 2A tournament with a 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory against Nicholas Marringa and Kyle McCaine, also of Hinsdale Central.
Trevians senior Chris Ackerman with the serve in the state championship.
The Trevians duo followed up a chaotic first-set win with a more surgical second-set triumph, winning all six games they served and finally breaking Central’s serve with the set tied at 5-5.
“The first set I felt like we were playing with more desperation, playing from behind. … It was almost like we stole that one,” Ackerman said. “The second set was more in control, more easy holds. The games were a lot quicker and from an intensity standpoint, I thought the teams were more on it.”
Ackerman gave plenty of credit to New Trier coaches Tad Eckert (head coach) and Brent Saltzman for calling for the right in-match adjustments, such as a change to an “Aussie formation,” in which Ackerman and Dussias (serving) lined up on the same side of the court in an effort to disrupt an opponent’s return game.
Aside from game strategy, Dussias said the team’s adversity earlier in the tournament helped them in the final match.
Ackerman and Dussias cruised through their first three matches before overcoming challenges in the quarterfinal (Hersey’s Andrew Weber and Jakub Pasielak) and semifinal (Glenbrook North’s Troy Kaneshiro and Max Manoshin) rounds. The Trevs pair dropped the middle sets in both contests before responding to advance.
“I almost felt like dropping the set to GBN wasn’t a big deal,” Dussias said. “Being down didn’t feel like too much pressure after that match with Hersey.”
New Trier assistant coach Brent Saltzman (left) with some encouragement for Dussias and Ackerman.
Ackerman becomes New Trier’s first two-time doubles champ since Mack Reynolds and Adam Rubenstein won three straight state titles between 2000 and 2002. A four-time state champ, Rubenstein also won with different partners, winning a title with Joe Smeeton in 1999.
Ackerman and Dussias earned 14 of New Trier’s 19 team points, good enough for fourth place overall, a feat the Trevians accomplished with just two state entries. The other, doubles team Casey Fenner and Brennant Plunkett, picked up four wins in the tournament, including three in the backdraw.
Hinsdale Central (34 points) won the tournament for the fourth straight season and sixth time in the past seven tries. New Trier won it in 2021. Conant (26), Hersey (22), New Trier (19), and Glenbrook South and Stevenson (17 apiece) followed in this year’s standings.
New Trier had won a trophy (top-three finish) the previous 10 state tournaments (two firsts, four seconds, four thirds) and also finished fourth in 2013.
Loyola Academy earned seven team points and tied for 16th in the team standings. PJ Barry won three straight matches to start the tournament for the Ramblers, while doubles team Peter Alshouse and Alex Floro collected a backdraw win.
Highland Park also finished with seven points. Blake Gold, a former doubles champion (2023), went 3-2 on the weekend, and Andrew Rosenfeld and Jarrod Cohen won their opening match.
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A season filled with jubilance came to a cruel conclusion Saturday afternoon in Northfield.
Lane Tech put an end to the New Trier girls soccer team’s bid to defend its state title with a 2-1 victory on Saturday, May 31, on Robert Naughton Field.
The Champions rallied from behind on the back of a well-struck, second-half goal to knock off the top-seeded Trevians and claim the sectional championship.
Saturday’s defeat was just the second loss all year for the Trevians, both of which came at the hands of the Champions. Lane bested New Trier on penalty kicks in early May to give the Trevians their first loss since April of 2024.
“They’re a good team,” New Trier head coach Jim Burnside said. “They have seniors straight up the middle and they work really hard.”
The match’s opening minutes saw the teams trade threats on goal but neither found a finishing touch. New Trier goalkeeper Annie Fowler thwarted a Lane attack in the ninth minute with a strong save, and the Trevs put forward a solid chance of their own in the 12th minute but sent an attempt just wide.
Noa Boeing readies to fire for the Trevians.
But it was the brilliance of New Trier’s superb sophomore Addy Randall that delivered the match’s first goal with just over 11 minutes left in the half.
Moments after Lane’s defense won the ball away from Randall, the star midfielder quickly retook possession and fired a perfectly struck shot from 30 yards out that bent into the top right corner of the net.
“That’s what Addy Randall does — she’s a worker, she never gives up, she never lets up and she battled to get that ball back and then hit a bomb,” Burnside said. “That (goal) was typical Addy Randall.”
New Trier’s advantage was short-lived though as Lane Tech’s midfielder Jessica Carlson knocked home a penalty kick just moments later, leveling the score with 6:15 before halftime.
Nearly six minutes into the second half, Lane’s senior forward Grace Carman put her team in front with a stunning strike that sliced into the top left corner of the goal and put the defending state champs on their heels.
“It was a good individual effort and that happens,” Burnside said of the strike. “When you get to this point of the season, you have good players out there trying to make something happen and she did.”
The Trevians then immediately went on the attack in their attempt to find the equalizer.
New Trier found a nice opportunity 11 minutes in when sophomore Claire Gallagher put a solid header toward the net but Lane keeper Cynthia Waller denied the chance.
New Trier senior Honor Dold looks for options in the sectional title match.
New Trier continued to put pressure on the Champions throughout the final 20 minutes, but Waller and Lane’s stellar back four denied everything the Trevs threw at them.
A red card issued to the Champions with just under 30 seconds to play gave New Trier one final glimpse at more soccer, but the Trevians could not convert in the waning seconds.
The second-half deficit put a Trevians team that had conceded only four goals all season until the sectional title matchup against Lane in unfamiliar territory.
“The other times we’ve given up goals, we’ve been down 1-0, so we’ve had to battle back, (but) we played the same way. … We pushed forward a little bit, and I thought we created some good chances and it all just didn’t fall for us,” Burnside said.
Lane’s victory Saturday was a history-making triumph as it marked the first time a Chicago Public Schools girls soccer team has won a sectional final.
Trevians sophomore Addy Randall works past a Champions defender.
For New Trier, the defeat brings a sour ending to an otherwise fantastic season. The Trevians followed-up their remarkable 2024 campaign with another dominant year that saw them outscore their opponents 88-6 and allow just two goals before the sectional final.
While the achievements on the pitch certainly resonate, the group’s close bond off the field makes the squad all the more memorable, Burnside said, noting that the “moments together as a team,” the “great fun, hard practices and competition,” are just some of takeaways from the year.
“This is a game and games go your way and games don’t go your way,” he said. “This group is a phenomenal group of young women who carry themselves with pride and are of great character. If I can be around people like that, that’s all that matters.”
And no doubt the Trevians will be back in the fold going forward. While experienced stars such as Honor Dold and Kennedy Colegrove are on to college, plenty is left in the cupboard, including sophomore stars Randall, Fowler, Dami Balogun, Noa Boeing, London McCaffery and Bea Cirulis, and junior starters Eleni Kanellos and Quinn Brahm, among others.
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Highland Park’s central Metra station will soon board a new cafe.
Highland Park City Council voted 6-0 on Tuesday to approve a one-year contract with Complimentary Cafe, a Skokie-based coffee shop, to start operating concessions in July out of the Highland Park Metra station at 1700 St. Johns Ave.
Ryaz Ali, owner and founder of Complimentary Cafe, said the cafe will feature hot and cold refreshments like lattes and mocktails, as well as locally sourced food items like bagels, muffins, hash browns, cookies, brownies, empanadas and chicken croissants.
“We’re super excited to bring good coffee to Highland Park,” Ali said. “We’ve been looking for a space in Highland Park for about maybe like nine months now, so baby’s been born.”
City staff recommended the cafe operate with hours no less than 7 a.m. to noon Monday through Saturday; though Complimentary Cafe’s proposal included steady weekly hours beginning at 5 a.m. with consideration to being open to as late as 7 p.m. for commuter traffic.
Ali opened his first Complimentary Cafe location in Skokie in 2022 with specialty coffee drinks served with handwritten compliments on the cups.
Complimentary Cafe opened its first location in Skokie in 2022.
Focused on supporting other small businesses, the food items on Complimentary Cafe’s menu are sourced from more than two dozen different vendors in order to offer customers the best quality and avoid purchasing from wholesale distribution companies, Ali said.
Five percent of the company’s profits also go to charitable causes. The business is in the process of opening an additional location in Glen Ellyn.
Highland Park received proposals from two other vendors to staff the central Metra station: Central Café and Landmark Coffee. Landmark Coffee, however, only offered to provide vending machines.
City staff “considered the benefit of an established Highland Park business expanding operations within the community” but Central Cafe did not answer all the questions posed by the city’s request for proposal or indicate they wanted to pursue additional investment in the train’s concession space, staff wrote in providing their recommendation in the concession agreement.
The city has invested “significant improvements” in the train’s space over the last two years with updated stainless steel kitchenette amenities, city staff wrote. Complimentary Cafe proposed additional investment to the interior of the concession space, like updated signage.
Approximately 690 people boarded at the Central station every weekday morning prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Metra representatives informed the city. Ridership reportedly has now reached approximately 60% of pre-COVID numbers and continues to rise regionally.
City staff anticipated the contract with Complimentary Cafe will generate $3,450 in revenue for the city during its first year. The agreement includes a mutual option to renew for an additional two years, each projected to yield $5,400 in annual revenues.
The city last awarded a contract to Cafe Lumie’re in 2023 to provide concessions inside the central Metra station. Highland Park officials did not return messages from The Record for information on Cafe Lumie’re’s departure from the train station.
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Niles West’s two-run fifth inning had the sectional’s top seed, New Trier, in trouble on Saturday.
But not for long.
New Trier baseball gathers around their regional championship trophy.
With the score knotted at 3-3, the Trevians answered with two runs of their own in their side of the fifth, and then held on for a 5-4 victory in an IHSA Class 4A regional championship May 31 at Niles North in Skokie.
Sophomore Harry Resis had a run-scoring knock in the fifth, while Ben Toft and Caiden Carpenter scored the runs. Relief pitcher Nick Bailey came on to pick up a two-inning save, striking out five Wolves along the way.
Nick Bailey delivered for the Trevians during his two innings of relief work.
Trevs starter Greg Campitelli went five innings allowing two earned runs and striking out four to earn his 10th win on the season.
New Trier junior Keenan Donaldson provided the fireworks early, socking a two-run home run to give his team a 3-1 lead in the third inning.
New Trier pitcher Greg Campitelli tries to throw out a runner after fielding a bunt.
CJ Donnelly doubled, Toft was 1-for-1 with two walks, and Trey Meyers 2-for-3.
The Trevians advance to the Loyola Academy Sectional semifinal and a date with familiar foe Glenbrook North, the sectional’s fourth seed, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, at Loyola’s Munz campus in Glenview.
New Trier coach Dusty Napoleon (right) congratulates Keenan Donaldson along his home-run trot in the third inning.
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The sun drenched O’Brien Field at Eastern Illinois University on Saturday but arguably nothing shined brighter than the superstars of New Trier track and field.
The Trevians made all kinds of history during the IHSA Class 3A championships in Charleston, capping the momentous weekend by hoisting their first state championship in 80 years.
Behind a record four first-place finishes, New Trier scored 45 team points — five ahead of runnerup Homewood-Flossmoor and seven better than Belleville West — to claim its third state title in program history and its first in the modern era. The other triumphs came in 1944 and 1933.
“I am incredibly satisfied. These are really great kids, a great coaching staff, a really special team, and they really came through,” New Trier head coach Andrew Schmitt said. “… People came through and this is just a real special team and I couldn’t be happier.”
Not the favorite to win the meet, New Trier needed big performances to overcome H-F and its incredibly talented sprinters, who collectively recorded five top-five finishes for the Vikings.
While seniors Ben Crane and William Landwer were projected to win from 3,200 and 100 meters, respectively, the Trevians got unexpected victories from Landwer in the 200 (state record 20.87 seconds) and senior Dylan Benjamin in the triple jump (personal best 14.7 meters).
Each first-place finish earned the Trevians 10 team points, and it is the first time in program history that New Trier won four events at the state finals. Three Trevians won championships in 1934 and 1944.
It was also the first time in program history that a Trevian won the triple jump and the 3,200.
Landwer’s performances were historic in multiple ways. Not only is he the first Trevian to win the 100- and the 200-meter dashes (though, New Trier had winners in similar events when they were measured in yards — 220-yard champ George Quinlan in 1931, 100-yard champ Dick Robinson in 1964), but also he set state records with both runs.
And his 200 win clinched his team’s state championship.
“I feel great,” Landwer said a few hours after this 200 victory. “I had full faith in myself to win the individual (events) today but it means way more when the team can pull it off. No one on our team thought we could do it and we pulled it off, so it feels amazing for sure.”
Will Landwer: Fastest in Illinois
Trevians senior William Landwer (center) in the lead of the 200-meter run en route to his second state championship on May 31.
Landwer scoffed when he talked about his humble sprint beginnings.
As a New Trier freshman, Landwer ran the 100 in 12.3 seconds and 200 in 25.8 — results he called “horrific.”
Things changed. But not overnight.
“He was just one of those kids who got a little better every year and grew a little every year,” Schmitt said. “Last year he ran 11.1 and for him to come back now and run 10.2, that’s unbelievable.”
Landwer dominated the 100, besting H-F’s Zion Morrison (an All-Stater in four events) by more than two tenths of a second and breaking the state record (10.31 by Marcellus Moore of Plainfield North in 2013) by seven one-hundredths.
He posted the fourth-best time (21.6) in the 200 preliminary race and then was the only competitor under 21 seconds in the finals, finishing in 20.87 to break the 28-year-old record of 20.89 set by Lake Park’s Anthony Moorman.
Landwer also anchored New Trier’s 4-by-100 relay team (Dylan Nemerovski, Will Miller, William Hanahan, Landwer) to a seventh-place finish.
Prior to his senior-year surge, Landwer got the cold shoulder from many collegiate programs. Now, Landwer is committed to Penn State University.
“To be honest, freshman and sophomore year, it was just figuring out how to run,” he said of his progression. “After that, junior and senior years, it was just spending every day in the offseason trying to be the best I can be. Growing definitely helped, and definitely the training and going to this track club called TNT. Just working out every day paid off.”
Dylan Benjamin: More to come
Dylan Benjamin during a triple jump attempt on his way to a state championship.
It’s a whole new world for Dylan Benjamin. That’s how he sees it.
The senior jumper found another gear in the postseason. He improved his personal-best triple jump by two feet between the conference meet and sectional meet, and improved it another two feet by the state finals.
The final product — a triple jump of 14.7 meters, or just over 48 feet — was the top mark at the state finals. And the new state champion said he thinks there is more where that came from.
“I’m feeling really happy but at the same time I feel like I’m not done,” Benjamin said. “There are so many things I can work on and still go further.”
He said one of the keys to the big attempt on Saturday was a disappointing result in the long jump finals.
Benjamin placed 11th in the long jump and felt he underperformed. It was a motivating factor going into the triple jump.
With that championship in his pocket, Benjamin is reconsidering his future. He was planning to attend College of DuPage to compete in football and track and field. But now, there may be more opportunities out there.
“It opened a whole new door and I’m so excited,” he said. “We’re going to see. My options are open in a way and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Ben Crane: The long run
Crane’s legacy was already locked in place, but the Trevians senior lived up to the hype in his final high school track meet.
A cross-country state champ and state record holder, Crane won the 3,200 with a four-second cushion to become New Trier’s first two-mile state champ.
Ben Crane out in front on his way to a first-place finish in the 3,200 at state.
Crane led from the start, and when he noticed runnerup Carter Hayes, of Palatine, a little too close, he kicked it into high gear, finishing the race in 8:57.13.
“It was a fun race. I knew I had a target on my back going into it,” Crane said. “I led from the gun. With a lap to go I made a move and came out on top. … I could hear the guy in second breathing on my shoulder, so I just started speeding up a little bit and dropped him by the end.”
Crane also picked up points in the 1,600, placing seventh in the race that comes after the 3,200.
Crane will continue running at collegiate power Brigham Young University, but first will travel to Brazil as part of a two-year BYU mission.
Reflecting on the season, and his superstar seniors, Schmitt praised their collective commitment to the craft.
“It was just a great team effort,” he said. “New Trier kids historically have so many options and so many things going on — of course academics are super important, and other activities and working. You can do anything but you can’t do everything, and these kids really sacrificed and worked hard and it all paid off big.”
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Highland Park baseball coach Jason Newburger reflected on that truth Saturday when one of the Giants best seasons in recent memory came to its conclusion.
“This is an unbelievable group of kids, and we’re going to miss those six seniors for sure,” he said. “The worst part about playoff baseball is at some point it ends, whether you’re winning a regional title, a sectional title or a state title. The saddest part about this time of the year is that we’re not coming back to practice on Monday.
“We’re going to miss these guys a lot, especially the seniors, but the future is bright for the Giants due to the leadership of the last couple senior groups we had.”
With a 5-2 loss to the sectional’s No. 2 seed, Libertyville, on Saturday in Hoffman Estates, No. 7 Highland Park’s 24-win season came to a close.
The Giants (24-11) dominated the Central Suburban North Division, winning 13 straight games to start league play en route to the division title. Their 24 wins were the program’s most since 2009, and they placed six players on the All-CSL North team, including the division’s player of the year, senior Ben Lichtenfeld.
Giants senior Ben Lichtenfeld tags out a Wildcats runner during a successful pickoff play.
Against potent Libertyville (31-4), the Giants hung tough. The Wildcats scored a run in each of the first three innings to take the early lead, while their starter, Chase Lockwood, kept Highland Park’s bats at bay.
Libertyville’s two-run home run in the fifth was a big blow to the Giants, who finally found a spark in their final at-bats.
Lichtenfeld and JT Killeen reached base to start the rally, and then back-to-back RBI doubles from Trent Harradine and Patrick Feder got Highland Park on the scoreboard. Not only that, the successful stretch brought the game-tying run to home plate.
But a full comeback was not meant to be.
“We don’t quit,” Lichtenfeld said. “We knew it was our last inning and we gave it our all.”
The late effort was nothing new to Newburger.
“It’s not surprising for this group,” the coach said. “The character of our group I’d put up against any high school team in the country. Our six seniors have really led this program, helped lead it last year and then coming back this year. I can’t say enough about this group.”
The Giants also played Libertyville tough in a 1-0 loss in early May.
Seniors Lichtenfeld pitched a complete game two-hitter in the Giants’ regional-opening win and then played infield on Saturday. Lichtenfeld and senior infielder Charlie Cohen were named to the All-CSL North team. Lichtenfeld was the division’s player of the year.
Highland Park pitcher Brett Karman tracks down the dribbler before getting the runner at first base.
The senior leader pointed to the team’s defense as a key to this year’s success, and that starts, he said, with chemistry.
“Our chemistry is so good,” the senior said. “We’re all great friends who all like to come to the field every day. It’s fun to play with each other every day.”
Highland Park’s other All-Conference selections highlight the program’s bright future. Sophomore shortstop and pitcher Simon Rose and junior third baseman Harradine, pitcher Cooper Casdin and catcher Josh Midanek all earned the honors.
“More baseball with this group will always be fun,” Newburger said. “I would take them any day of the week. It’s a great group. We have a lot of good kids in our baseball program, and we’re just fortunate to be cast with coaching these guys.”
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