OP_070519

30 | July 5, 2019 | the orland Park Prairie sports
OPPrairie.com
Legendary baseball plays
and players in Orland Park
Athlete of the Month
LW Central baseball player
wins June competition
Bill Jones, Editor
JEFF VORVA, Sports Editor
Baseball is generally a
big deal in the summer.
But in Orland Park,
there was a three-day
stretch in the community
that raised the bar even
more. Between Sandburg
High School unexpectedly
entering and winning
a summer regional tournament
in thrilling fashion
and two legendary White
Sox baseball players making
guest appearances,
Orland Park was a baseball
hotbed.
June 26
Sandburg’s John-Michael
Scumaci slid headfirst
into home plate, safe,
after a passed ball in the
bottom of the seventh
and was mobbed because
it was the winning run in
a 5-4 win over Lincoln-
Way West in the Lemont
Regional championship of
the Illinois High School
Baseball Coaches Association
summer tournament.
“I knew I had it all
the way,” Scumaci said.
“Trust my speed and go.”
The Eagles face Lockport
in the first round of
the Lockport Sectional
at 11 a.m. Monday, July
8. The sectional winner
heads to the state tournament
during the week of
July 15.
Sandburg was not planning
on entering the tournament.
In 2017 and 2018,
the Eagles did not participate
in summer league
games because too many
travel-league players were
missing. But this year,
the IHSBCA changed its
Bill Melton shows off the White Sox’s 1970s style
uniform to Evergreen Senior Living residents on Friday,
June 28. JEFF VORVA/22ND CENTURY MEDIA
rules that required teams
to play 10 summer league
games before entering
the tournament. Schools
did not have to play any
games to enter this year’s
tournament, and with 29
Sandburg players who
practiced throughout
June, it was a good season
to enter.
“We didn’t know we
were playing until a week
before the tournament,”
Eagles coach Jim Morsovillo
said. “We figured
we’ve been running practices
and scrimmages all
summer, so we wanted
to see what they would
be playing like in a game
situation.”
June 27
For the second straight
year, former White Sox
player and World Serieswinning
manager Ozzie
Guillen was in town for
a charity golf tournament.
In 2018, Guillen
participated in the Disabled
Patriot Fund event
at Silver Lake Country
Club, and this year he
was a celebrity guest at
the 12th Gridiron Golf
Classic at the same course.
The Gridiron event benefits
Sandburg and the
Orland Pioneers football
teams and other charities.
“We had a great baseball
guy raising money for
football and playing golf
— we have it all covered,”
said organizer Dan Mc-
Millan, who helped bring
Guillen to town.
Despite Guillen making
two yearly appearances
in Orland Park, he said
he does not usually make
a lot of appearances like
this.
“I usually do it for
friends,” Guillen said. “I
don’t have a lot of time,
but when I do I like to
help. If the timing is right
and if what the people are
doing is right, I will do
it.’’
Guillen may also be
seen in the south suburbs
a little more in the future,
as he said he is thinking of
moving from Chicago to
the Homer Glen-Lemont
area.
McMillan said there
were 260 golfers at the
event, and several other
people made donations.
June 28
Bill Melton, a White
Sox third baseman who
led the American League
in home runs in 1971 (the
first Sox player to ever
do that), visited the Evergreen
Senior Living facility
to talk with some of the
residents about baseball
in a program called Major
League Memories, sponsored
by the Alzheimer’s
Association Illinois Chapter.
“I’m one of you!” the
73-year-old told the audience.
Melton is still keeping
his profile high with television
analyst work before
and after White Sox
games.
He showed some old
White Sox uniform designs
to the Evergreen
residents, and the group
sang “Take Me Out to the
Ball Game.”
Lincoln-Way Central’s
Ryan Kraft has been playing
baseball since he was
4 years old. And lately the
sophomore pitcher/infielder
for the Knights has been
finding a lot of success at
the plate.
On top of that, he already
committed to play
ball at Indiana after two
more years of high school.
The June 22nd Century
Media Athlete of the
Month competition also
tilted in favor of Kraft,
who earned the most reader
votes to claim victory.
The Athlete of the
Month competition pits
featured Athlete of the
Week selections from our
south suburban newspapers
against one another in
an online voting contest.
The next contest is to
begin Wednesday, July 10.
To vote, visit OPPrai
rie.com, hover over the
“Sports” menu tab and
click “Athlete of the
Month.” Readers can vote
once per session per valid
email address. Voting ends
team
From Page 31
and was co-captain of the
squad his senior season
and qualified for the state
3-point shooting contest.
He graduated from St.
Louis University with a
degree in exercise science
and is pursuing a Doctorate
of Physical Therapy at
the school.
Tim Yara (Tinley Park)
Yara was a water polo
standout at Andrew. He
Ryan Kraft — a
sophomore who plays
baseball for the Knights
— won the June Athlete of
the Month competition for
publisher 22nd Century
Media’s Southwest
Chicago branch.
Steve Millar/22nd Century
Media
at 5 p.m. July 25.
All athletes featured
in the June Athlete of the
Week sports interviews are
automatically entered into
the contest.
attended St. Ambrose
University and graduated
in computer networking
security and computer
network administration
and is a cloud engineer at
SAP Fieldglass.
Jake Terrazas (Lemont)
Terrazas played basketball
and baseball at Lemont
and baseball for two
years at St. Louis University.
He is employed as
a senior new business consultant
with the Arizona
Diamondbacks.