Baseball: Lake Park stretches for win over Wheaton North
To keep pace in the DuPage Valley Conference baseball standings, Lake Park needs to keep its distance from fellow challengers like Wheaton North.
The Lancers pulled away to a 9-3 victory over Wheaton North in the opener of their key three-game series, piling up 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a 1-run game in Roselle.
With Naperville Central's win over Wheaton Warrenville South - its eighth straight in the DVC - Lake Park (12-4, 7-3) is alone in second place and remains a game behind the Redhawks in the loss column.
In the midst of a marathon conference season, of course, everything could change in the matter of a few days.
"It'd be nice to get the runs earlier, but better late than never," said Lancers catcher Michael Nielsen, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI double in the sixth. "This is a huge series. Naperville Central is playing great baseball and everybody's just trying to keep up. Getting that first win of the series is always good."
Wheaton North (10-7, 6-4) broke out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Ben Leander's 2-run single, then added its final run in the top of the third. Lake Park, however, answered with 4 runs in the bottom of the third off Northwestern-bound Falcons starter Sam Lawrence.
Nielsen started the rally with an RBI groundout. He was followed by two-out run-scoring hits from Joe Kennedy, A.J. Ackerley and Colin Jamison.
Lake Park starting pitcher Connor Cook, who went 3-for-4, kept the 4-3 lead through the sixth inning before being relieved by Colin Fowich for a scoreless seventh. Cook stranded six Wheaton North runners between the fourth and sixth innings while nursing the slight advantage.
"Things got away from us a little bit there in the bottom of the sixth, and sometimes that happens," said Falcons coach Dan Schoessling. "They're a good-hitting team and take really good at-bats. We've got to make adjustments going into Game 2. It's still early but you don't want to fall too far behind."
Cook, Fowich and Nielsen drove in 4 runs in the sixth inning. A wild pitch brought home the fifth run.
"Once we got a couple I think we started to relax and got a couple more," said Lancers coach Dan Colucci. "It was a good effort against a good team."
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