LF_042618

30 | April 26, 2018 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeader.com
Odd call works in Scouts favor against Stevenson
David Jaffe
Freelance Reporter
The Lake Forest baseball
team stayed in control of its
game against Stevenson on
Friday, April 20, thanks to
the performance of pitcher
Connor Morrison.
Morrison went six and
a third innings, giving up
two runs on five hits and
two walks with five strikeouts.
Even with that performance,
the visiting Patriots
rallied to score two
runs with two outs in the
top of the seventh to tie the
game. Stevenson, down to
its last out, tied the game
in the seventh on a two-run
single.
That could have been a
devastating blow for the
Scouts (3-8, 2-5), but instead
they responded. And
the game ended in bizarre
fashion as Colton Pfeifer
won the game in the bottom
of the seventh with an
RBI single when Stevenson’s
third baseman interfered
with Drew Golde
trying to score. The run
was ultimately awarded to
Lake Forest giving them
the 4-3 win.
“At the end of the game,
you have to look for a
pitch that you can drive,”
Pfeifer said. “I didn’t get
the hardest hit but was able
to get a piece of it and hit it
in a good spot. You have to
know what you want to do
at the plate before you’re
up. My goal was to hit a
rocket.”
“It was great that Colton
was able to put the ball in
play in a very big situation,”
Lake Forest coach
Ray Del Fava said. “They
were able to do that in the
top of the seventh and we
did a good job responding.
We showed a lot of resiliency
with our at-bats in
Caleb Durbin takes a swing at a Stevenson pitch Friday,
April 20, in Lake Forest during a home game victory.
Brittany Kapa/22nd Century Media
the last inning. We were
also in the position we
wanted to be in if we had to
bat in the seventh with the
top of our order with guys
like Caleb (Durbin), Drew
and Andrew (Gough).”
It was a finish that isn’t
often seen in baseball and
with an interference call that
was clearly the correct call;
Golde would have scored.
“It shows you that anything
can happen in baseball,”
Pfeifer said. “A lot
of stuff can go through
your head in the situation
that we were in but you
have to just throw that
away and stop thinking
about things like that when
you’re at the plate.”
The Scouts haven’t been
the strongest offensive
team this season. They
only scored four runs, but
looked much more confident
at the plate and were
consistently getting runners
on base and in scoring
position. They struck first
on Michael Vallone’s RBI
double in the second. They
increased the advantage to
2-0 on Peter Turelli’s RBI
infield hit in the third.
“Everyone was just playing
with energy and you
could see the team getting
happier with every hit we
had,” Pfeifer said. “When
we have that type of energy,
it leads to better at-bats
and that ultimately resulted
in some good hits.”
Lake Forest made it
3-1 in the fifth thanks to
Durbin’s baserunning. He
singled, then advanced all
the way to third on Golde’s
sacrifice bunt. Then when
Pfeifer hit a ground ball,
he beat the throw home for
the crucial insurance run.
“Good at-bats have sort
of been the bane of our existence
this season,” Del
Fava said. “But we had
much better approaches
and put ourselves in situations
to score. It was nice
to see. Hopefully this can
be a springboard of better
things to come.”
Morrison’s one tough
inning came in the fifth as
Stevenson scored on an
RBI groundout. The Patriots
had runners at the corners
with two outs but Morrison
forced a popup on the
first pitch to end the inning.
“I don’t think you can
say enough about how
Connor pitched,” Del Fava
said. “When he was on, he
was very tough to hit. And
when he faced adversity,
he stepped up and got out
of tough situations. It was
just a shame he couldn’t
end up with the win.”
Youth Baseball
Lake Forest House League holds opening day ceremony
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
A week made all the
difference in opening day
ceremonies for two local
youth baseball leagues.
The Lake Forest Baseball
House League hosted
its opening day ceremony
Saturday, April 21,
at Deerpath Community
Park. And with no rain
and a relatively warm day,
it was a stark contrast to
Lake Bluff’s opening day
experience.
“It’s a nice way to get the
season going after we’ve
had a long winter and
we start playing games,”
Bronco coach Ben Gibson
said about the opening day
ceremony.
The teams lined up on
the field and each team
name was read one-byone
by Lake Forest Parks
and Recreation Athletics
Program Supervisor Jason
Olson, who served as the
emcee for the opening day
ceremony.
After the teams were
announced, a recording of
the national anthem was
played over the speakers
and the ceremonial first
pitch was thrown.
Former White Sox
player Adam Russell was
scheduled to throw out the
first pitch but was unable
to make it. Olson threw out
the first pitch instead.
“Unfortunately our
special guest Adam Russell
could not make it this
morning so the next best
thing is going to be me,”
Olson said. “I’m going to
throw out the first pitch. I
manage the program so I
don’t mind opening up the
season for the kids and the
program.”
Olson thanked the sponsors
that are helping out
with the program this
year including Northwestern
Medical, Lake Forest
Health and Fitness Center,
Knollwood Animal Hospital
and Life Storage.
“Our sponsors help
us support our uniform
costs,” Olson said. “That’s
the main thing; they help
support the uniform costs
so we can buy the uniforms
since it’s a significant cost
for the program.”
Olson also thanked the
Lake Forest Baseball Association,
a partner that
Lake Forest Parks and
Recreation works closely
with. The partnership allows
players to play baseball
in a seamless manner
Jason Olson throws out the ceremonial first pitch
Saturday, April 21, at Deerpath Community Park to
celebrate the start of the youth baseball leagues. Photo
Submitted​
between both organizations.
The Bronco and Pony
House League programs
engage in a semi-competitive
travel-like league, the
North Shore Youth House
Baseball League, where
they compete against programs
from neighboring
communities.
The other age groups,
Pinto and Mustang, play
games in-house.
“As you can see, we are
growing baseball again
here in Lake Forest,” Olson
said.