Old Rivals Oak Park and Lyons Split

April 12, 2015

By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

OAK PARK, IL - The situation looked bleak for Oak Park-River Forest. The Huskies trailed rival Lyons Township by two run runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and twice Lyons botched game-ending infield grounders to allow Oak Park to tie the game.

After a walk to cleanup hitter Patrick Rumoro, right fielder Ryan Fish stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. Grand slam time, right? Not quite. Oak Park coach Chris Ledbetter called for a bunt, and Fish executed the gamble perfectly, deadening a ball down the third base line to give Oak Park an improbable 6-5 victory in the first game of the West Suburban Silver doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

Lyons (5-5, 2-3) bounced back to win 7-2 in the second game to gain a split, handing Oak Park (7-3, 4-1) its first West Suburban Silver conference loss. However, I left after the first game to catch the second game between Downers Grove North and Hinsdale Central, so I have no first-hand details of the game.

In Game 1, Lyons erupted for four runs in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie. Senior 3B Charlie Harrigan led off the inning with a single, and SS Tom Hickey reached on an error. After an out, C Nick Gron delivered a run-scoring single. Senior RF Chris Cooper followed, and he was given a second life at the plate when a foul pop was dropped. Cooper made the most of the opportunity by smashing a three-run homer to right-center field to give the Lions a 4-0 advantage.

Oak Park scored three runs in the fifth to make it 4-3. Fish started it off with the first of his two bunt singles. An error and a balk led to two runs, and pinch-hitter Will Johnson chopped a run-scoring single up the middle to close the gap to one. Fish, who’s committed to Jefferson College, finished 2-for-3 with a walk, run scored and the game-winning RBI.

For Lyons, 2B Jack Oremus, Gron and DH Jacob McMillan each had two hits. Harrigan added a hit and a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to give the Lions a 5-3 lead.

More detailed scout notes can be found in the Illinois Scout Blog later.

Old Rivals Oak Park and Lyons Split

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