Baseball: Downers North rallies past Lyons Twp.
Lyons Twp. senior pitcher Tucker King was on a roll late in Monday’s game.
In front of a large crowd at Memorial Field in Downers Grove, the Cincinnati baseball recruit was dealing in the final few innings. After a few shaky innings, the powerful right-hander settled down and retired Downers Grove North hitters in order in the fifth and sixth.
Leading by one run in the bottom of the seventh, King strolled up to the top of the mound to close out the first of a three-game set in a vital West Suburban Silver Division series.
But then, lightning struck in the form of small ball, a timely hit and two costly errors. Downers North seized on a few mental and physical errors by the Lions, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory.
Downers North junior Drake Cosenza laid down a perfectly placed bunt that led to a throwing error that scored the winning run.
Downers North sophomore hurler Colin Doyle won the battle of next-level aces, pitching a complete-game five-hitter, walking four and striking out seven.
“It was a crazy game,” Downers North coach Kyle Briscoe said. “We knew with King, after having faced (us) the past three years, we would have our hands full. He’s been a guy that’s a straight bulldog. We knew we weren’t going to get many clean licks at him, so we had to put pressure on him in terms of bunting just because of the type of pitcher he is. We can’t go toe-to-toe with him.”
Before the bottom of the seventh, Briscoe brought his players together for a team huddle to pump them up and to hammer home the importance of not getting overwhelmed by the moment.
“We try and replicate what we call the seventh-inning World Series, being down one run and stuff like that,” Briscoe said. “Once we got that first runner on, it felt like things might go our way. Colin Doyle is a kid we’re super high on. A big kid who has taken huge steps and what he’s done with composure and no moment is too big for him.”
Doyle said he was happy to battle King on the mound, helping him learn about the mental and physical side of big-time games. Besides allowing a two-RBI hit by Lyons’ Lou Ratcliffe, who finished 3-for-3, in the top of the third, the 6-foot-7 Doyle was in top form on the mound.
“It was a fun game and good opportunity to go against (King),” Doyle said. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but I battled through it and got the job done. It gave me confidence and boosted it and this game should help me in the future. I had confidence in my teammates. They came up clutch.”
Downers Grove North’s Jack Romsey, who finished 2-for-3, had the key hit in the seventh, drilling a game-tying RBI single to center field. Romsey said he was excited to get a chance to redeem himself after striking out with two runners in scoring position in the fourth inning.
“They had a really good pitcher on the mound and I didn’t do my job earlier,” Romsey said. “I just had to shorten up and put the ball in play. I’ve been struggling recently and just wanted to get a bat on the ball. It feels great. I’ve been in the batting cages for countless hours trying to get some work done.”
Lyons coach Kevin Diete said the final inning was an unfortunate series of events. The Trojans (22-5, 10-3) picked up two of their six hits in the seventh, plus benefited from a throwing error that plated Luke Fordonski for the winning run. King did not retire a batter in the seventh, ending with six innings and striking out nine. The Lions (18-8, 10-4) did not score a run in the final four innings.
“It’s frustrating right now because we’re losing games we shouldn’t be losing,” Diete said. “That’s our fourth loss out of seven games. We’re not playing good baseball or executing offensively and not playing good defense and making costly errors late in games. We have to keep getting better until playoffs roll around. I thought that was a great pitching matchup. It was a good fun game, but we came out on the sour end of it. We have a lot of young players, and they have to learn from it.”