Senior second baseman Lon Roberts put the long wait for the Lyons Township High School baseball team in perspective.
“Our senior class was in fifth grade for our last conference champions,” Roberts said. “It’s something we talked about at the beginning of the year.”
On their final day of West Suburban Conference Silver Division action, the Lions outlasted Downers Grove North 9-4 in eight innings, May 19, to share their first Silver title since 2019 with Hinsdale Central and Oak Park and River Forest with 12-5 league marks.
LTHS (22-10) were behind 4-0 at fourth-place Downers North (21-12, 11-7) until scoring twice in the fifth and sixth on senior Justin Heydorn’s two-run homer that tied the game and shifted the momentum. Consecutive one-out walks to Tommy Georgelos and Nick Hines followed by an outfield error initiated the five-run eighth, which included a two-run single by Heydorn.
“It’s means so much more to be competitive close games like that, especially for a comeback that’s so exciting,” Heydorn said. “You look up at our (home) scoreboard and see the last time we won was 2019. A good testament to all of the hard work this group has put into everything.”
LTHS finished the Silver beating Downers North twice. Hinsdale Central (24-11) swept Proviso West and OPRF (27-8) swept York in their three-game series. The Lions edged Downers North 2-1, May 18, in Western Springs behind freshman winning pitcher Tommy Cavaliere (3 hits, 6 strikeouts in 5 innings) and junior reliever Aidan Webster.
The following day, the Lions overcame Downers North starting pitcher Colin Doyle, whose pitch count resulted in his being relieved. Doyle had 12 strikeouts with a four-hitter in a 4-0 complete-game victory over LTHS May 13.
“The guys pulled through the last two games against Downers. Fun to see that we’re back on track,” LTHS coach Kevin Diete said. “If we get just one of those Hinsdale games (instead of going 1-2) it makes those games a little bit easier or maybe the championship outright, but for the most part I’m just happy we’re able to share it. They get the number on the board, as we say.”
Webster stepped up to relieve both victories over Downers North. They were his first pitching appearances since April 20 after being used most recently as a designated hitter. In the extra-inning win, Webster worked three scoreless innings to follow Owen Cypress (7 strikeouts in 5 innings), allowing one hit with two strikeouts. Webster followed Cavaliere with two 1-2-3 innings.
“It was just more keeping everything neutral, not letting the pressure get to me and just throwing strikes,” Webster said. “I could just trust my fastball getting over the plate.”
“Whatever they can offer us, we’re going to find a way to squeeze the juice out of everything they’ve got,” Diete said. “We were kind of out of pitching from five games over six days the week before. Coach (Ryan Malloy) and I thought Webster should go in and he did great.”
In the Class 4A Brother Rice Sectional, LTHS plays in the Reavis Regional as the No. 3 seed and Riverside Brookfield (20-10, 13-6 in Upstate Eight Conference East Division) is the No. 7 seed playing in the Whitney Young Regional. Both regional finals are Saturday, May 30.
In 3A, Nazareth Academy (25-9) is the No. 2 seed in Lemont in the Nazareth Sectional after being in 4A the past two seasons.
Boys tennis
Lyons Township senior Shay Sweigard is back for his fourth Class 2A boys tennis state meet with a new and old outlook. Sweigard and freshman Nolan Pavlik (8-4) advanced by taking second in doubles at the Hinsdale Central Sectional as No. 3 seeds.
In singles, third-place LTHS sophomore and No. 3 seed Mateja Nokic (15-12) qualified for his second state trip with a top-four finish.
“I want to medal (top-six at state),” Sweigard said. “I’m feeling pretty good. I think it’s my best chance to do well.”
Sweigard came closest to all-state in 2024 by tying for seventh in doubles. Last season, he returned to state singles and was among the top 16 after going 2-2 in singles in 2023.
“(This year for state) I just thought doubles was a better chance to do well just because there are so many good kids in singles,” Sweigard said.
Sweigard and Pavlik first united for Hersey’s prestigious Tom Pitchford Invitational May 1-2. They finished fourth at No. 1 doubles and beat No. 4-5 seed New Trier.
“Shay was really looking forward to (Pitchford) so I’m happy I had him as a partner,” Pavlik said. “I didn’t know who I’d be playing with or where I’d be playing when I came into the season. I’m just really glad I was able to play doubles with a good player. Hopefully we’ll go far.”
This is a new state experience for Nokic, who finished 1-2 in doubles last season with graduated Fred Chen. Nokic won his state-qualifying quarterfinal match 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
“(My season has) been going pretty good, way better than last year. I’m playing singles, which I prefer,” Nokic said. “Last year I lost in the first round so I want to try and get more main-draw wins. (The goal) is to win more matches than I lose.”
Riverside Brookfield’s unseeded doubles team of seniors Mathias Kubon and Charlie DeButch was 1-1 and one victory from state, losing to the No. 2 seed 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Senior Elias Nolan and the doubles team of juniors Linden Leander and Humza Ahmad were 0-1.
LTHS senior and No. 6 singles seed Manny Gonzalez and the No. 5-seeded doubles team of seniors Rohan Nagle and Jackson Albee were 1-1 and one win from state. They respectively lost in the quarterfinals 6-2, 7-6 (4) and 6-3, 6-1.