LAKE FOREST, Illinois– After four straight games were postponed due to inclement weather, the Lake Forest Scouts varsity baseball team was eager to get back on the field against Waukegan Tuesday evening. The Bulldogs, who are 3-20 on the season and haven’t won since April, came in as the underdogs and were looking to pull an immense upset. The game was tighter than the Scouts would have liked in the first two innings, but eventually, Lake Forest pulled away leaving Waukegan in the dust.
After starting pitcher Kyle Wix had a clean first two innings, the Scouts bats came alive in the bottom of the third. After Ryan Lee drew a walk and Caleb Durbin doubled setting up two runners in scoring position, Waukegan starting pitcher Kingston Bone threw a wild pitch allowing Lee to score. In that same at-bat, Will Davis picked up his first RBI of the night on a blast to center field easily scoring Durbin. Lake Forest would score twice more in the bottom of the third, one of which came off a Peter Turelli RBI single. With a four run cushion and momentum in their direction, the Scouts looked to put the game out of reach for good.
Waukegan fell apart on defense in the bottom of the 4th. With one out and two men on second and third, Davis picked up his second RBI on the night on a fielder’s choice play. Still without even registering a hit in the inning, Andrew Gough scored two more runs after he reached on an error by Bulldog third basemen Bryan Martinez. Up seven runs with Kyle Wix throwing a gem on the mound, the game was out of reach with three innings left.
After five complete innings allowing zero runs, Colin McDonnell came in for relief for Wix and coasted through the top of the 6th. It only took McDonnell five pitches to get three outs setting up the Scouts with a chance to slaughter Waukegan in the bottom half of the inning.
Yet again, Lake Forest had no problem getting ducks on the pond in the 6th. With Will Davis and Caleb Durbin on second and third respectively with one out, Durbin easily scored on a wild pitch. In that same at-bat, Drew Golde drove home Davis on a single to right field. To put the finishing touch on the Bulldogs, Peter Turelli racked up his second RBI of the night on a line drive single to center, eclipsing the slaughter rule mark, sending home Waukegan after six innings. The Lake Forest Scouts went on to win 10-0, which is now their 4th double digit win of the season.
The most eye popping stat from the night was in a category the Scouts have struggled in all season. Not once Tuesday evening did Lake Forest strikeout. Instead, they drew ten walks and had seven hits adding to their impressive night at the plate. Peter Turelli and Will Davis both had two hit nights totaling for a combined 3 RBI’s. Kyle Wix was brilliant in his first start of the season. He allowed two hits and no runs in five innings. Wix also recorded five strikeouts. Behind him, the Scouts defense only recorded one error. The Lake Forest Scouts varsity baseball team will play a doubleheader tonight at Waukegan High School as they look to win their series further improving their resume heading into postseason play.
