Tuesday night the Lake Forest Scouts Varsity baseball team put up twenty runs against the Waukegan Bulldogs. The previous night, the Scouts defeated that same Waukegan team 11-1, which begs the question: what would the Scouts do Wednesday evening at home against the Bulldogs? Well, Paul Turelli was on the mound and once again the Scouts went up against a pitcher who hasn’t had a great track record this year, so the Scouts were tuned up for another blowout victory.
The Scouts have had some pretty quick starts this year, but none like the one that they got off to on Wednesday. Caleb Durbin, who is now hitting exactly .500, was the first one to reach for the Scouts when he dropped a perfect bunt down the third base line. A few at bats later, Durbin found himself crossing the plate when Waukegan’s pitcher made an error. After Charlie Reinkemeyer and Brad Czerniejewski reached on back to back walks, Andrew Athenson hit an RBI single to left field, extending the Scouts lead to two runs. With only one out in the inning, Andrew Gough replicated Athenson’s hit to left scoring not one, but two runs this time, doubling Lake Forest’s run total. The Scouts did not hesitate there. Ryan Chandler followed Gough’s RBI single with his own RBI hit, but this one found its way to the right field fence allowing Gough to score and Chandler to move into third. Still with one out, Griffin Strang kept the line moving when he hit a sharp line drive down the middle of the diamond that went between the legs of the center fielder. Chandler could have walked home if he wanted to and Strang hustled his way to third base. In the Scouts next at-bat, Johnny Salm got just missed a ball that he could’ve sent a mile, and instead popped out to center field, but hit it deep enough to allow pinch runner Ryan Lee to score from third. The 8th and final run of the inning came when Drew Golde launched a double to right field scoring Caleb Durbin, who previously walked. With one inning over and the Scouts were already two runs away from slaughtering Waukegan.
Lake Forest got themselves into a terrific position to begin the second inning. Ryan Lee got a single then Shane Lynch and Andrew Gough drew back to back walks to load the bases. With ducks on the pond, Ryan Chandler was able to pick up his second and third RBI’s of the contest when he sent a single to left field. Then, Griffin Strang once again put the ball in play, but this time it was snagged by the Bulldog’s shortstop and flipped to second base. The end result, however, consisted of Gough crossing the plate giving the Scouts an 11 run advantage and Strang his second RBI of the game.
Due to league rules, the game had to be played five innings to be deemed as an official game, so even though the Scouts had enough runs to end the game early, they would have to hold off Waukegan three more innings.
In the third, the Scouts had hopes of not just putting the game out of reach, but also adding a few more runs so they could secure their third consecutive slaughter rule victory. With men on first and third and nobody out, Shane Lynch hit a single to left (his first hit of the year), scoring Brian Heidbreder from third base. Following the RBI single, Waukegan’s pitcher issued yet another walk that loaded up the bases for the Scouts. On a 3-2 count with two outs and the bases loaded, Matt Hill hit a three run double over the center fielder’s head, which at that point truly put the Bulldogs chances at avoiding a slaughter rule loss at the bare minimum. The Lake Forest Scouts added one more run in the bottom of the third when Will Woidat hit a single to right field scoring Hill. The Scouts had a sixteen run lead at the end of the third. At that point, the game was practically over.
Neither team was able to score in the fourth inning and come the fifth inning, Waukegan had their final chance to avoid their third straight slaughter. The Scouts were able to get the first two outs in the top of the inning, but Waukegan got the bases loaded and ended up scoring two runs before the game concluded. Those runs, of course, barely mattered at all. The Scouts won 16-2. Not only did the Scouts win tonight, but they also completed their first three game sweep this season over the Bulldogs. In fact, all three of those games did not reach the seventh inning because the Scouts had already slaughtered them beforehand.
Once again the Scouts offense was on point. The sixteen runs says it all. Even players who haven’t got a whole lot of playing time this year were able to showcase their potential. Lake Forest’s defense was also superb tonight. Paul Turelli was lights out in the first three innings that he pitched not giving up a hit. Behind him, the Scouts defense didn’t commit a single error and was clean throughout the contest. The Lake Forest Scouts first playoff game on Monday will be against this same Waukegan team, so sweeping the series is a major confidence booster for them.
With this victory the Scouts improve to (15-16) on the season, one back from a .500 record. Their next matchup will be against the Deerfield Warriors who are also coming off a slaughter rule victory over Maine East. The school’s record is currently (12-19) and should make for an exciting battle. Come support your Scouts tomorrow evening at 4:30 at West Campus.
