Heine’s single helps South Elgin edge Lake Park

After blowing a lead for the second straight game against Lake Park, things were looking a little bleak for South Elgin.

Instead, catcher Daniel Heine gave the Storm a poignant, winning finish.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the South Elgin catcher made contact with a 2-2 offering from Lake Park’s Jake Pygman (0-4).

Heine’s walkoff single scored Nathan Garris, who’d reached base on a fielder’s choice, to give the Storm a 7-6 comeback victory Wednesday.

The victory comes on the heels of Lake Park’s come-from-behind victory on Tuesday. The teams play the rubber game today.

Heine’s heroic single came after he was a 1-for-6 in his previous at-bats in the Upstate Eight Conference series.

“I was trying to put the ball in play,” said Heine, who sent a shot right over the first base side. “He had a 3-2 count on me yesterday and he threw me a fastball.”

South Elgin (14-4,1, 8-4-1) had trailed until scoring 4 runs in the fifth to take a 6-4 advantage. Lake Park (11-10, 7-7) allowed 4 unearned runs in the fifth as South Elgin batted around the order in the inning, highlighted by a 2-run single from Garris.

Lake Park committed 3 of its 7 errors in the inning. Of South Elgin’s 7 runs, only the go-ahead run was earned.

“To be in the game with 7 errors you have to count your blessings,” Lake Park coach Dan Colucci said. “You can’t give a good team seven extra opportunities in a game.”

South Elgin’s 6-4 lead was extremely short-lived as the Lancers roared back quickly with some big hits in the top of the sixth.

John Schram nailed a solo shot to left-center to lead off the inning and bring Lake Park back to 6-5. Tom Spear drew a walk and then scored on a double from Brandon Boyle.

Ryan Ford then took the mound a retired all five batters he faced to pick up the win.

“I got the two outs (to end the sixth) and I felt pretty good,” Ford said. “I was throwing all of my pitches over the plate.”

South Elgin’s Kenny Lowden smacked his 10th home run of the season on a 1-0 pitch off of Lake Park starter Christian Taugner in the third. Lowden nearly hit No. 11 with a long bomb that just missed clearing the center-field wall in the sixth. Fortunately for the Storm, Heine’s hit is what people will remember.

“I’m happy for Daniel coming through with the clutch hit,” Storm coach Jim Kating said. “The last 10, 15 at-bats, he’s been hitting the ball well. Ford did a nice job coming in and shutting down the situation brewing.”