Colburn puts the hurt on Libertyville

Torn labrum or not, Kevin Colburn still managed to put the Warren baseball team on his shoulders.

The senior designated hitter, a three-year veteran who is usually the Blue Devils’ third baseman but was told recently that he can only bat while he awaits shoulder surgery, couldn’t have been more clutch Friday afternoon.

Over his final two at-bats in Warren’s North Suburban Lake Division clash at Libertyville, Colburn drilled a home run and drove in 2 runs with a single.

His heroics played a vital role in an 8-5 Warren victory in nine innings that keeps the Blue Devils very much alive in the race for the division title at 15-8 overall and 5-2 in Lake games. Amazingly, Colburn’s home run was one of three Warren home runs on the day – and all 3 homers either tied up the game or gave Warren a lead.

“I was excited with the home and the way I hit. It felt good,” Colburn said. I’ve been really disappointed since I got the news about my shoulder. It had been bothering me for about five weeks and when I finally went in to get it checked out, the doctor told me that it was a torn labrum and that if I wanted to finish out the season before having surgery, all I could do was bat. I miss playing in the field. It kind of feels like I’m letting the team down.”

Colburn’s effort against Libertyville should convince him otherwise.

His solo home run to right centerfield in the eighth inning gave Warren a temporary 1-run lead until Libertyville tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth.

Then, Colburn put the game out of reach for good when he drove in 2 of Warren’s 3 runs in the ninth inning with a hard-hit shot to left field.

Libertyville was unable to match the Blue Devils that time.

“I was just glad that I could help today,” Colburn said. “I was excited. I missed a few opportunities early in the game to get runs in and I didn’t do my job. This was payback to be able to get runs in at the end of the game.”

Warren pitcher Ryan Kennedy closed out the game by doing his best Kevin Colburn impression.

He also put the Blue Devils on his shoulders, carrying them to victory by allowing just 1 hit over the final three innings. He also snuffed out any hopes the Wildcats had of yet another rally by throwing three straight strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“I was running on adrenaline,” said Kennedy, Warren’s ace. “I’m on two days rest but I felt great. I don’t know how, but I did. I was just working on getting my curve ball over and I did.

“This is a big win for us. When we’re playing our kind of ball, watch out. We’ve got hitters, we’ve got pitchers, we’re fielding this year. We’ve got it all this year. All I can say is watch out because we’re coming.”

Warren was trailing 3-0 until the sixth inning when catcher Alex Letto changed the game with the first of his team’s 3 home runs.

His 3-run shot over the left-field fence tied the game at 3-3.

Libertyville, which drops to 13-9 (4-5 Lake), scored a run off a Warren error in the bottom of the sixth and looked to be on its way to victory.

The Wildcats needed just one out in the top of the seventh to close out the game.

But Warren’s Pat Kenney smashed a two-out home run into center field to tie the game again at 4-4.

“If you told me before the game that Warren would tie it up or take the lead on 3 home runs over the last three innings, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Libertyville coach Jim Schurr said. “I wouldn’t have thought we would pitch the ball in those situations in a place where they could hit it out of the park.

“But we did. We made some pitching mistakes and you can’t make pitching mistakes against a team that can hit the ball well like Warren. They have some big kids who have been playing varsity for three years who can take it out with one swing. And they did that today.”

Libertyville didn’t have any homers but did get a big offensive day out of Anthony Mack, who had 2 hits and AJ Schurr who drove in 3 runs.

For Warren, Colburn, Kenney and Letto each had 2 hits.

“Our guys had some good at bats today,” Warren coach Clint Smothers said. “But I don’t think that happens by accident. We have guys who are in the weight room all the time in the off-season so that they can get stronger and hit the ball better. We’ve worked hard for this.”