Kerry Wood Field is a neighborhood treasure. Friday night featured four excellent teams in two great (seven inning) games, no pitch clock. Why people sit home binging dopey TV shows when live quality baseball is free just a few blocks away is a mystery to me.
Friday evening featured the #1 ranked Lane Tech Champions against the #2 ranked Von Steuben Panthers in game one and the DePaul Prep Rams hosting the Riverside-Brookfield Bulldogs in game two.
Champions senior righthander Jacob Maza struggled early giving up one in the second and two in the third. He fought through his early troubles and the Champions rallied in the bottom of the third to draw even at two each. After that I stopped keeping score when Mike Clark arrived and I filled him in. I went down to the field to take some photos leaving the reporting to the professional.
Even at three going into the last of the seventh, with one down, Champions Teo Greco singled to right. Lane senior and Penn commit Josh Katz rifled a single over the shortstop’s head advancing Greco to second with one out.
The next batter, senior third baseman Louie Dereschin, went down swinging bringing up sophomore and Boston College commit Henry Murray with two down and the winning run at second base. In the third inning, Murray drove in two runs on a double over the head of the right fielder. Could he outdo that with a gaming winning walk him hit to score Greco?
Of course. On a 1-2 count Murray laced a gaper to right-center. No doubt about it. Give him a single and a game winning RBI.
Champions remain atop the Jackie Robinson North Division with huge win over rival No. 2 Von Steuben.
You can watch the game with Alex Burstein’s expert call on the Lane You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmvSIgU9phc
For the nightcap, Rams’ skipper Sammy Colon brought his 9-4 DePaul Prep Rams across the parking lot to Kerry Wood Field to face the Riverside-Brookfield Bulldogs.
The Rams faced an even bigger hill than the Champions going down 5-0 in the second. Rams’ junior pitcher Kevin O’Connor settled down shutting down the Bulldogs thereafter.
The Rams chipped away until the sixth inning when senior centerfielder A. J. Garcia showed why his is a much sought after D-1 recruit driving in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth and then coming up two amazing catches in center field to secure the victory of the Rams and first year head coach Sammy Colon.
Great free entertainment at Kerry Wood Field. Tell your friends and neighbors. I even saw a great parents with a picnic set up just outside the right field fence. Still plenty of time to enjoy some games.
