Senior Michael Mango views the Lyons Township High School baseball team through the mindset of prospering in different roles. Mango has moved from No. 9 in 2023 to leadoff hitter and from starting shortstop to second baseman.
“I enjoy [leadoff] a lot. I like just being able to start off a game,” he said. “Wherever I’m at on the field, I’m just going to do my best to help us win.”
The Lions again are in the thick of contending for their first West Suburban Conference Silver Division title since 2019.
The Lions (12-4, 7-1 in Silver) have won six of their last seven and four straight in Silver play after beating Proviso West 14-0 in five innings, Monday, in Hillside.
LT’s Joey Severson watches the York Catcher as a pitch comes in high late in the game at York HS Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Michael Mango heads for home before scoring late in the game at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Michael Mango beats the throw and slides onto second base midway though the game at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT Pitcher Tucker King rips a pitch midway through game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT Pitcher Tucker King is fired up as he returns to the dugout after the final out in the second inning of game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Brack Hyde beats the throw and is safe on second base midway through game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Blake Ragsdale (2) throws out the York base runner early in game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Luke Nicholaus gets hit by a pitch between the shoulder blades in game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Brack Hyde celebrates and teammates look on as he slides across home plate during game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Joey Severson is greeted by teammate Blake Ragsdale after scoring in game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. | Ian McLeod 
LT’s Joey Severson gets a face full of dirt as he avoids getting thrown out at first base early in game action at York HS on Monday April 15 2024. Ian McLeod 
LT’s player during baseball game at York HS on Monday April 15, 2024. | Ian McLeod
The big boost was sweeping York, third in Class 4A last year, 11-3 on April 15, 9-3 on April 16 and 2-0, Friday, after the game was suspended by rain Thursday with LTHS batting in the top of the fifth and taking a 1-0 lead.
“Playing ranked teams, we know we have nothing to lose. Just go out and show what we’ve got,” said Mango, 6 for 11 in the series with a double and three runs batted in, April 15.
“I think just playing with more confidence and just going out there not caring about anything, just trying to win games.”
The LTHS offense is thriving with returning starters like Mango (.400, 13 RBIs, team-high 17 runs), junior Luke Nicholaus (.372, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs) and senior Ryan Jackson (.352, 3 HR, 16 RBIs) but also seniors Ryan Good (.351, 7 RBIs), Joey Severson (.275, 14 RBIs) and Jake Shumaker (.310, 7 RBIs).
Junior pitcher Tucker King is 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA. Seniors Nate Anderson (1-0, 0.93 ERA, 30 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched) and Brady Chambers (1-1, 1.88 ERA, 28 strikeouts in 22.1 IP) also are under 2.00.
“I wasn’t confident [in 2023], but this year, seriously, I’m up there to do some damage,” said Jackson, the Lions’ quarterback who will play football at St. Thomas. “I’m up there with an intent. I’m going up there not thinking, just thinking about hitting the baseball.”
Add the 6-5 victory at St. Laurence, April 17, and the Lions played six consecutive days. Shumaker’s three-run homer completed a six-run comeback in the seventh.
“[The week] was tough mentally, physically,” LTHS coach Kevin Diete said.
In the two-day victory over York, senior Brack Hyde had two of the Lions’ four hits and scored the first run on a wild pitch. In his first varsity start, junior winning pitcher Dom Piscotti had five strikeouts in four innings Thursday and junior Mercer Krantz (3 strikeouts in 3 innings) completed the four-hit shutout Friday.
“We hit when we needed to. We made plays behind our pitchers when we needed to and our pitching just dominated, really,” Mango said.
The opener with York set the tone, especially after LTHS lost its series finale 7-4 with Glenbard West, April 11, after a seven-run sixth and winning the first two games in five innings 15-4 and 14-1.
LTHS scored 10 unearned runs against the Dukes (13-5, 4-4). The first five came against senior pitcher Ryan Sloan, a highly regarded pro prospect.
“I feel like our mentality coming into it was we can hit anybody. Knowing he throws 99, 98 [miles per hour], we still battled and hit off him pretty well. They didn’t have the best day [four errors] and we capitalized on that,” Jackson said.
There’s more tough baseball left in the Silver, especially first-place defending champion Downers Grove North (10-0) as well as rival Hinsdale Central (2-6) next week and Oak Park and River Forest (3-4) for their final two league games.
“Definitely [sweeping York] puts us in a better spot to try and win conference but we still have [to win those],” Diete said.