As of April 24, the Scouts baseball team is 6-12. After being 2-3 following spring break, the team has struggled to put together a streak of wins. 

Following spring break, the Scouts picked up some nice wins in close games. A 5-4 win against Warren and a 2-1 win against Carmel. 

The game against Carmel lasted nine innings and showed that the Scouts could have some resilience. After a 1-1 score the entire game, the Scouts managed to get the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. Bink Hartline hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to right field to help get Joey Schnack home from third. The team ran out of the dugout and celebrated with Hartline and enjoyed their nice extra innings win. 

Since then, the Scouts have struggled to win games. Not only have they struggled to win, they have lost games they probably should’ve won and had a few blowout losses.

So far in conference, the team is 2-4. They split with Warren and Zion-Benton, and got swept by Lake Zurich. 

In the Warren games, they won 5-4 and lost 5-4, both games were battles with very evenly matched teams. In the first game, the Scouts won at home and doubled the Blue Devils in hits, 10 to 5. The Scouts did have four errors, but they were able to hold their lead and end with a win. In their second match up a week later, the Scouts found themselves down 5 to 1 going into the top of the seventh inning. Nate Brezak had a nice day on the bump, only allowing two earned runs and having eight strikeouts through 5.2 innings. However, errors killed the Scouts as they had three errors to Warren’s zero and allowed three more non-earned runs. The Scouts did catch life in the top of the seventh as Stephen Cole hit a three-run homerun to bring the game within one run. However, the rally wasn’t enough and the Scouts ended up losing the game 5-4. 

Against Lake Zurich, the Scouts got killed in their first game. The team lost 15-0 and the game ended in a slaughter rule in the fourth inning. The game was an easy one for the team to forget as they had zero hits, three errors and let up three home runs. However the next day, the Scouts turned things around and kept a very close game with the Bears. Heading into the sixth inning, the Scouts were down 2-0 but had a two-run inning to tie the game heading into the seventh. Lake Zurich responded with a 2 run seventh inning. In the bottom of the inning, the Scouts scored one but it wasn’t enough, and the game ended as a 4-3 loss for the Scouts. Brezak pitched the entire game, getting four strikeouts and only two walks.

The Scouts, however, struggled with the Zion-Benton Zee-Bees, a team they normally take care of easily. The Scouts won the first game 10-9. The game was tied 9-9 and went to extra innings. The game finished 10-9 as the Scouts scored in the top of the ninth. Cole had a nice day at the plate going 2 for 5 with a homerun, a triple, and three RBIs. Max Helmer and Brooks Rams each went 2 for 3 as well with Helmer adding two doubles. The game was completed the following day as it ended in a tie the first night because of darkness. However the Scouts won the game and are now 2-0 in games gone to extra innings, showing that they have the resilience to win close games. In the second game, the Scouts struggled and lost 4-2. The Scouts did fine at the plate getting seven hits with a triple from Hartline and Luke Pasquesi as well as a double from Cole. However, they struggled defensively as they had eight walks and two errors. 

In the last two weeks, the Scouts have a 2-2 out of conference record. With their win against Carmel as well as their 12-2 win over Grayslake Central on Thursday, they have two non-conference wins in the last two weeks. However, the Scouts dropped two weekend games to Vernon Hills 1-0, and a very rough game against Cary-Grove where they lost 10-1. 

With the last couple of weeks, as well as spring break and previous, the Scouts record totals out at 6-12, a win percentage of .333. 

“Our record doesn’t indicate how we’re actually playing.  We’ve been one hit, one play, or one pitch away from winning a bunch of games. We play at our highest level when we’re focused and supporting each other. If we start stringing some hits together, I’m confident our season will turn around,” Head Coach Mikel Nilles said. 

The Scouts look ahead to some more conference matchups as well as potential playoff matchups such as Deerfield and Prairie Ridge. The Scouts need all the preparation they can get for the State Playoffs which begin in mid-May.