For high school ballplayers, now is the time to shine. Sure, the high school baseball season occurs in the spring, but it’s the dog days of summer when a player has the opportunity to impress a coach enough to earn a spot on the varsity roster once the regular season arrives. In the summer, everyone gets a crack at a pitch or a chance to take the mound or showcase his speed on the base paths or his skills in the field. And with most of the players involved in other sports and camps, the opportunity to show your stuff during a premiere game is usually frequent.
That day came in late June when rivals Fenwick and Oak Park went at it at the Dominican Priory in River Forest. Due to other sports camp obligations and/or pre-scheduled family vacations, both teams were missing a combined 13 starters-six for Oak Park and seven for Fenwick. The lack of starters didn’t make the rivalry any less intense. Fenwick held on for a 6-5 victory, a win that probably felt good considering it was Oak Park a month earlier that knocked the Friars out of the playoffs 8-4 in the Mt. Carmel Sectional Championship.
The Friars, who last season finished second in summer league play and jumped off to an 8-3 start this summer, scored six runs off four hits in the third inning. Chris Gleason kicked off the inning with a walk, followed by a double off the bat of Gino Rooney. Brett Streycyk singled to load the bases. An error and two groundouts drove in Fenwick’s first three runs before Matt Gallo ripped an RBI single with two outs to put his team up 4-2. Kevin Sweeney’s two-run triple over the left fielder’s head capped off the scoring for Fenwick.
“This is a real good group of ballplayers we have again this summer,” said Fenwick head coach Dave Hogan. “We’ve got something like 36 on the team that I’ve had to split time for and all of them are showing great potential. For the most part, the team is playing extremely well. We’ve had a couple of letdowns, but they seem to come right back the next game.”
George Kinsella went the distance for the Friars. The incoming senior yielded five runs-four earned-on 11 hits in 7 2/3 innings pitched.
The Huskies, who finished runner-up in the Class 4A State Tournament, rattled Kinsella in the seventh when Fitch ripped a single up the middle and Dan Lailou followed with a line drive down the right-field line to score a run. With two outs, Neal Rothschild smacked an RBI single to left to make the game interesting. With two men on and the score 6-5, Sweeney replaced Kinsella and forced the final out on a grounder.
Fenwick will take on Oak Park again July 17 at the Priory (2 p.m) to cap off the summer league’s regular season. Most of the regular starters and possibly some new ones are expected to be present for that match-up.
“June I give to the players, telling them it’s my time to evaluate some things and see where we need to go,” said Hogan. “But when July comes along, that’s when I need everyone present and accounted for. Family vacations are different, but camps and other stuff, I expect them to be here and ready to play ball.”