Rumoro Delivers to Lift No. 6 Oak Park Past Loyola

June 5, 2015

By Sean Duncan
Executive Director

Patrick Rumoro NILES, IL – The umpire ruled Pat Rumoro’s swinging bunt had hit him in the box, thereby negating the go-ahead run that had scored in the fifth inning. Oak Park-River Forest coach Chris Ledbetter vehemently disagreed with the call – and rightfully so – nevertheless, Rumoro was sent back to the plate and the runners on second and third reset.

The way both Oak Park and Loyola’s offenses were swinging in the Class 4A Niles West Sectional semifinal, that run, that call had the feel of season-ending implications for one of the teams.

“I told coach to relax, I got this,” said Rumoro, a senior catcher who’s committed to Louisville.

Rumoro got back in the box, and proceeded to deliver a two-run triple to right field to ultimately lift No. 6 Oak Park to a 3-1 victory Thursday, sending the Huskies (30-7) to the sectional final against Evanston on Saturday.

Oak Park had been chasing a 1-0 deficit since the second inning thanks to a solid pitching effort by Loyola senior left-hander Jack Yalowitz. In the fifth inning, Missouri-bound second baseman Jeremy Gaines delivered a one-out single through the left side, and senior starting pitcher Chris Atwood followed with a walk. The two then pulled off a double-steal, putting runners on second and third. Senior right fielder Ryan Fish, the team’s best bunter, dropped down a safety squeeze, and the speedy Gaines narrowly slid around the tag to tie the game at 1-1 – and Rumoro, the team’s No. 3 hitter, coming to the plate.

Then the controversy, followed by the heroics. Game over, right?

If only baseball were that easy. In the top of the sixth, Loyola (18-17) got consecutive one-out singles by Alex Thomas and Yalowitz, which seemed to put an end to Atwood’s day on the mound. Ledbetter brought in junior right-hander Joe Cundari, who proceeded to walk the next batter to load the bases. Cundari then got a groundout force play at home.

Ledbetter came back out to the mound and re-inserted the left-handed Atwood into the game to pitch to the left-handed hitting Brendan Egan. The move worked, as Atwood rolled a grounder to the third baseman to get out of the inning.

Atwood then retired the seventh in the order to finish the game.

“That was the first time I have ever done that,” said Ledbetter. “But [Atwood] had thrown only 60 pitches.”

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Wisconsin-Oshkosh recruit allowed four hits, no earned runs, struck out four and walked one to earn the victory (no, he didn’t get the save, though). Yalowitz, who’s committed to Illinois, only yielded three hits, struck out five and walked four (three in the first two innings) in a tough-luck defeat.

Rumoro Delivers to Lift No. 6 Oak Park Past Loyola

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