While Lyons Township has shown flashes of playing solid baseball, the story of the Lions’ season has been inconsistent play often saddled with “too little, too late” results. Saturday was no exception as the host Lions battled conference-leading Oak Park only to drop a doubleheader 11-6 and 14-8.

Oak Park leadoff hitter Sam Picchiotti (1-for-4, two runs) set the tone early for the Huskies when he smashed a triple to open the two-game stand. The senior second baseman scored when Andrew Godbold (2-for-4, RBI) laced a single to right field giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Lyons Township (12-12, 6-8 West Suburban Silver) responded in its half of the second inning posting two runs on the board, highlighted by a perfectly executed RBI squeeze bunt by Dan Marston and an RBI single from Ryan Nabor.

“We did some good things [today] like Marston’s squeeze bunt and we battled at the plate,” LT coach George Ushela said. “Unfortunately, we also had defensive lapses and made some mistakes which cost us.”

In the third inning, Oak Park regained the advantage at 3-2 courtesy of run-scoring hits from John Frueh (triple) and Jack Picchiotti (single).

The Huskies (19-10, 12-2) broke the game open with a seven-run fifth inning. After Frueh, Evan Vondrasek and Elliot Stoller loaded the bases via two hits and a walk, centerfielder Mike Locasto (2-for-4, RBI) hit a ground ball to LT pitcher James Leszczynski, who committed a throwing error enabling two Huskies to cross home plate.

“Hopefully, we can still play spoiler in the conference,” Leszczynski said. “We’re just trying to play hard and minimize errors. That’s cost us a couple times this year [like today].”

Capitalizing on another bases loaded opportunity in the fifth, Oak Park first baseman Ryan Mullin cranked a three-run double to push the score to 8-2.

“I think the biggest part of the game [today] was that everybody 1-9 in our lineup hit,” Mullin said. “We kind of turned our hitting around [recently]. I love the attitude on our team; we’re confident but not cocky.”

Facing a 10-2 deficit in the sixth, the Lions rallied with a pair of home runs over the last two frames to make the final score 11-6. Leszcynski blasted a solo shot over the right field wall to start the sixth. In the seventh, Mike Pater and Brian Trefil hit a single and double, respectively, setting the stage for a three-run blast from LT third baseman Andrew Schrepfer.

“I was trying to see a good pitch,” Schrepfer said about his home run. “It was a 2-0 fastball and I was geared up for it. I just wish that I could have hit it earlier [in the game].

“We’ve had a lot of tight games against good teams. I think if we could reduce the big innings, we can stick around and beat these teams.”

Starter Luke McLeese (5-1) picked up the victory for Oak Park, scattering six hits and walking two over six innings of work.