Mark Pachla’s fastball might not be able to break a pane of glass, but the senior righty sure is a pain to baseball hitters. Crystal Lake South’s 75-mph thrower has been hearing it from opponents his whole varsity career. His fastball makes their eyes get wide. Hitters expect line drives, only to have long drives home after being frustrated by the crafty Pachla.

Before Pachla took the mound against St. Viator in Thursday’s Class 3A sectional semifinal at Grayslake Central, his ears perked when he heard the Lions talking about him.

I could hear them in the dugout — ‘This guy’s throwing slow. Let’s tee off on him. Barrel party.’ Stuff like that," Pachla said.

St. Viator barreled up several balls, but couldn’t solve Pachla, who improved to 9-2 with South’s 4-0 win that earned the third-see

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