An offense that could muster just two hits and some untimely fielding lapses cost the Leo Lions their two-year reign as IHSA Class 2-A baseball champions.
Host Chicago Christian saddled Leo with an 8-0 loss in Saturday’s regional title game at the Schaaf Athletic Complex in Palos Heights, breaking it open with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Six of the runs were unearned, the result of two Leo errors.
It’s on to the Beecher Sectional for the Knights (16-13), while the Lions close the books on a 7-21 season.
“One thing I was proud of this year was how we bounced back from adversity, but we didn’t swing the bats well enough to do so today,” Coach Mike Anderson said.
Indeed, Aiden Lott’s infield single in the second inning and Tyshaun Brown’s sharp grounder through the left side in the fifth were all the Lions could manage against Christian starter Brady Riemersma, who worked five scoreless innings.
Mike Millaney took over in the sixth and retired all six Leo hitters he faced in completing the shutout.
Lions starter Derrek Davis allowed just two hits in 4 ⅓ innings, and though he walked three batters and hit three more, he was really undone by his defense.
A sacrifice fly scored the Knights’ first run in the third inning, but a misplayed pickoff throw and a balk moved the runner from first to third base.
Aiden Lott relieved Davis in the fifth, after a single, a hit batter and a fielding error loaded the bases with one out. A walk forced in one run, but Lott struck out Isaac Heerdt and appeared to be out of the inning when he induced a two-hop grounder to the right of first base from Nate Vis.
But as Lott ran over to cover first, the throw sailed behind him, allowing two runs to score. Christian Flutman’s two-run single, a wild pitch, a double and another single would add to the carnage of what became a seven-run inning and an 8-0 deficit that proved insurmountable as well as the Knights were pitching.
“One bad inning,” Anderson said. “It kind of came apart for us.”
Though somber in defeat, the Lions could console themselves with a realistic expectation of better days ahead. They were the youngest team in the Catholic League, by far, with only one senior on the roster. And while the underclassmen-dominated roster took some lumps, all those juniors and sophomores and even a few freshmen got valuable playing time and figure to benefit from the experience.
“Play all summer,” Anderson urged the young Lions. “Baseball is a game of reps, and the more you play the better you get.”
Matthew Hernandez (now at St. Xavier) Joaquin Huerta (Wilberforce) and Mitchell Hall (Harper College), from last year’s regional champions, were on hand for the game, along with President Dan McGrath, Principal Dr. Shaka Rawls, Business Manager Jim Earner, Academic Coordinator Jennifer Fleck and Choir Director LaDonna Hill from the Leo administration.
Outcome aside, it was a beautiful day for baseball.
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