Laws leads another Waubonsie Valley comeback
Seventh-inning pressure - at the plate and on the mound - didn't get the best of Zach Laws.
Sweating out an ice-cold afternoon, Laws and Waubonsie Valley's baseball team held on for Wednesday's 7-6 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Lake Park in Roselle.
After Laws laced a 2-run single to spark a 4-run rally in the top of the inning, the junior escaped a bases-loaded jam with one out in the bottom of the seventh by getting a popout and a flyout to end the game.
"I had to bat the inning before so I didn't have much time to warm up," Laws said. "We've been coming back all season, so it was good to see again. We weren't counting ourselves out. We were counting on coming back and getting a win."
Lake Park (5-4, 3-3) led the bulk of the game after scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the second and took a 5-3 lead to the seventh when Joe Amore singled in a sixth-inning insurance run.
The Warriors (8-3, 4-2) wasted no time rallying in the seventh as Alek Radicevich singled, Johnny Johnson doubled and Alex Schram walked to load the bases with no outs. A wild pitch made it 5-4, and Laws' single gave Waubonsie Valley its first lead at 6-5.
Jacob Vandrie drove in his second run of the game with an RBI single, putting the Warriors ahead 7-5 and setting the stage for a wild bottom of the seventh.
Zach Aehlert's run-scoring double with one out pulled the Lancers within 7-6, and an intentional walk loaded the bases before Laws retired the next two batters.
"If you don't do little things well, this is what happens," said Lancers coach Dan Colucci. "We're kind of an inexperienced team and hopefully we're learning how to win. It's going to be a process."
The Lancers took advantage of 3 errors to build their 3-0 lead. A fielder's choice by Anthony DeConcilis drove in a run to boost the advantage to 4-2. Eric Esch singled in a sixth-inning run to briefly narrow the Warriors' deficit to 4-3.
Ryan Gray picked up the win in relief of Drew Gray. Laws earned the save.
"We kind of came alive in the seventh there, which was nice to see," said Warriors coach Bryan Acevedo. "The one thing we have done all year is battle to the last out."
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