Cook hit makes Lake Park jump around
Lake Park junior pitcher Connor Cook wanted his first DuPage Valley Conference baseball victory against first-place Glenbard North Monday after receiving a 5-run lead in the first inning.
Instead, Cook settled for the winning hit.
Cook's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth scored Brody Thompson to give the Lancers a 7-6 victory in Roselle after the Panthers forced extra innings at 5-5 with a two-out run in the seventh.
"It was just great, jumping around with your teammates with the great flow we had going. It was a great win for us," Cook said. "We've been on an eight-game skid and we didn't know what was going on. This is a big win for us and I hope it turns it around, which I think it will."
The Lancers (6-9, 1-6) not only earned their first DVC victory but their first win since April 11. The persistent Panthers (12-5, 6-1) took a 6-5 lead in the eighth against winning pitcher A.J. Ackerley (1-0), but Cook scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half against starter Eric Orze, who struck out a personal-high 14 on 118 pitches. Zach Stokas (1-1) relieved to begin the ninth.
"This was a nice win against a good team. Hopefully (our) guys learn that they're good enough to win," Lake Park coach Dan Colucci said. "They haven't given up. We've had opportunities to close out games and didn't. Just little things here and there come and get us. Hopefully this helps us turn around."
Just when it looked like a 1-2-3 ninth for the Lancers, pinch-hitter Dom Fallico singled and Thompson re-entered. Leadoff hitter Colin Fowich singled and Cook singled to left on a 2-and-2 pitch moments after taking one high and inside.
"I was mad I didn't take that pitch (and get hit) so (catcher Michael Nielsen) could hit with the bases loaded," Cook said. "I knew (Stokas) was going to come with some soft stuff and I pulled it."
Nielsen was 3-for-4 with two doubles. Cook and Fowich each had 2 hits and Joe Kennedy hit his second homer this season.
The Panthers' Nick Barrett started the sixth with his first homer to cut the deficit to 5-4. No. 9 hitter Sam Ledbetter had two singles and scored in the seventh as Zach Heck dove head first to beat out an infield single that grazed the glove of a leaping Ackerley. John Roscoe and Alex Taylor hit back-to-back doubles to score in the eighth.
"We're down 5-0 in the first. It could have gone south pretty quick there, but we stuck with it and ended up chipping away and ultimately had the lead there. I'm proud of the way our guys kept battling," Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko said. "We had a rough first inning overall, but (Orze) settled down and threw great, threw exceptional."
The Lancers' first started with three singles. Nielsen's single brought in Fowich after two failed bunts.
"We ran a slash play. It went through the hole, got us the first run of the game," Nielsen said. "That was our first big DVC inning. That kind of took the monkey off our back and let everybody ease in. It just started the trend."
After two strikeouts Cook scored from third when the Panthers' plan to thwart a delayed double steal resulted in an errant throw home. Ken Schutz then singled in Nielsen and Kennedy hit the next pitch for a 2-run homer.
"We didn't play catch on that (double steal)," Smelko said. "We know they're an aggressive team. They just made one more play than us today."
Orze (5-0) allowed just one hit between the second and seventh innings and retired 15 straight before the eighth. Cook received Orze's lone walk in the eighth, although Zach Zimmerman later was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out just before the wild pitch.
Cook (1-2) had 7 strikeouts. Two of his three walks were to Taylor to lead off innings, and he scored both times.
"I'm happy with how I attacked the zone. I filled the zone well and I attacked batters, but my worst part today was getting behind hitters in counts and giving up free bases," Cook said.