LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.–After coming off their most impressive win of the season, the Lake Forest Scouts varsity baseball team had plenty of momentum heading into their second matchup of the year against the Stevenson Patriots. The first time that these teams met up, it was all the Stevenson. This time, the Scouts were seeking revenge and looking to finally have their offense heat up. Andrew Gough was given the start for the Scouts as he hoped to follow up Peter Turelli’s impressive performance on the bump against Warren. Unfortunately, right out of the gate, nothing seemed to go right for Lake Forest. The Patriots took a big lead early on and never looked back. The struggling Scouts offense couldn’t come close to making the game interesting.
Lake Forest’s long evening began in the bottom of the second. Ryan McElhinney hit a leadoff triple to right field for the Patriots, and shortly following his at-bat, two-sport star Nicholas Bonk popped out to center field, but in anticipation of McElhinney on third to tag up, Drew Golde gunned the ball passed catcher Brady Christoph allowing the runner to score. Things only got worse from there. After giving up a walk and a double, Gough had to be pulled from the game due to discomfort in his throwing arm. Already in a tough position, reliever Breck Nowik gave up a two-run single to Caleb Evans. Down three, the game was still in reach, but after a few missed opportunities by Lake Forest, the Patriots took full command midway through the ball game.
Lake Forest let the game get away from them in the 4th. By the time the nightmare inning was over, Stevenson hit around the order, which featured five hits on five runs. Hayden Brotz, Jack Housinger, Isaiah Hart, and Michael D’Angelo all picked up RBIs for the home team, and 2with three innings to go, the Scouts found themselves down eight with no life left.
The Scouts’ one and only run of the night was an RBI groundout by recent St. Norbert’s commit Griffin Strang in the 6th inning that allowed Sam Sheffield to cross the plate. Colin McDonnell and Kyle Wix held the Patriots scoreless in the remaining two innings, but Lake Forest’s offense was silent and showed no signs of a comeback. Stevenson went onto win the game 8-1 improving their record to 7-4-2, while the Scouts dropped to a disappointing 2-6.
A lot went wrong for the Lake Forest Scouts varsity baseball team Thursday night. For one, the offense showed no signs of improvement. The team had only three combined hits and left six runners in scoring position. Furthermore, they are hitting .162 at the plate as a team. The pitching wasn’t there either Thursday evening. Andrew Gough left with an apparent injury in the early stages of the game and Breck Nowik was thrown into a tough situation right from the pen. This is one of those games that the Scouts need to learn from and get over. If the weather permits, they take on this same Stevenson team that has handled them in their past two games at home tonight at 4:30. The Patriots love to score, so no matter who is on the bump Friday evening, the Scouts bats will need to come prepared. Stay tuned to the Forest Scout for the latest on the Scouts varsity baseball team.
