Niles Notre Dame Handles Lake Forest

March 30, 2016

By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

NILES, IL – The pro scouts came out to see Lake Forest ace Cal Coughlin, but host Notre Dame stole the limelight as the Dons cruised to an easy 7-1 nonconference victory Wednesday.

Notre Dame (3-1) scored three unearned runs in the second inning, courtesy of two defensive miscues, to mount a 5-1 lead after three and was never seriously challenged the rest of the way. The Dons came out swinging in the first inning, as leadoff senior CF Tim Simon set the tone with a double to left-center to open the game. Then Arizona State recruit Sam Ferri smoked a 90-mph fastball from Coughlin back up the middle to give the Dons a quick 1-0 lead before the throng of 50 fans could settle into their seats.

Offensively, senior 3B Matt Segovia led the way, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and reached base three times. Senior Matthew Krogstad added a pair of hits, scored a run and drove in one. Ferri, who’s one of the top prospects in the Midwest, went 1-for-3, reached base three times and played his usual stellar defense behind the plate. Ferri ended Lake Forest’s sixth inning when he threw a laser-strike to back-pick a runner at second base.

Sophomore left-hander Paul Bergstrom threw four solid innings to earn the win. The 6-foot-1, 160-pounder yielded five hits, one run, struck out two and walked two. His fastball sat 77-79 mph with it seems plenty more in the tank.

For Lake Forest (0-3), Coughlin flashed his premium stuff at times during his 4.1 innings. The Texas Christian recruit came out sitting 88-90 in the first, touching 91 once, and also rang the 90 bell in the fifth inning. His cutter/slider, which has the potential to be a big swing-and-miss offering, was inconsistent, though he threw a few between 82-85 that made the eyebrows arch. He also threw a 71-74 mph curveball and upper-70s changeup, indiscriminately shuffling all four pitches to batters one through nine. All told, Coughlin yielded five hits, three earned runs, struck out four and walked three.

Offensively, junior OF Jason Cast ripped a run-scoring triple in the first inning to left field to account for the Scouts’ lone run.

More in-depth player notes will be posted in the Illinois Scout Blog later.