After posting a combined 31 runs in three games last week against the Waukegan Bulldogs, the Lake Forest Scouts were searching for the same result Tuesday evening as they looked to get back to the regional semifinals. With Peter Turelli on the mound and a lineup full of power, the Scouts’ confidence was riding high coming into the game. Lake Forest ran up the score early and never looked back as they slaughtered the Bulldogs for the second time this season.
Waukegan could have completely avoided getting down early in the bottom of the first inning. Instead, they committed not one, not two, but three straight errors, one of which allowed Caleb Durbin to score. With ducks on the pond, this allowed Breck Nowik to pick up his first RBI on a double to left field, easily scoring Drew Golde. Lake Forest tacked on one more run after Durbin hit a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to three. It wasn’t until later in the contest when the Scouts took full control of the game and put it out of reach.
In the bottom of the 4th, after Waukegan scored their lone run of the game in the top half of the inning, the Scouts answered with two more runs of their own. With two outs and Ryan Lee at first, Caleb Durbin launched a triple to left field allowing Lee to come all the way around and score. After Durbin’s big hit, Naughton followed with a RBI base hit of his own extending the lead to four.
Lake Forest completely ran away from the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fifth and did so by only getting one hit. An inning that started off with an error from the Waukegan shortstop featured five walks. After the Scouts picked up their sixth run of the game on a Peter Turelli sacrifice fly to center, Ryan Lee picked up the biggest hit of the night on a base hit to center field with the bases loaded. All three runners came home to score, extending the lead to eight. The Scouts would score one more run before the inning ended after Waukegan pitcher Christopher King balked, which allowed all the runners, including Lee who was on third, to advance a base over. The Lake Forest Scouts put a cap on things early by picking up one more run on a Griffin Strang single in the bottom of the sixth successfully slaughtering the Bulldogs 11-1.
In the victory, Peter Turelli threw five solid innings, and Waukegan didn’t stand a chance against Brady Christoph in the top of the 6th. The Scouts offense had nine hits, drew six walks, reached on five errors, and only struck out twice as a combined team. Andrew Gough had two hits, while his fellow teammate Ryan Lee racked up three RBI’s. Lake Forest will take on Glenbrook North, a team they tied earlier on in the season, on the road tonight in the Regional Semifinals for a chance to get to the finals. Come support the Lake Forest Scouts varsity baseball team tonight and be sure to stay tuned to The Forest Scout for the latest on Lake Forest baseball.
