Cook, Lake Park shut down Addison Trail
Looking for an opportunity to advance to play St. Charles East in the seminfinals of the Class 4A Addison Trail regional on Wednesday, things couldn't have gone much better for Lake Park on Monday afternoon.
The 14th-seeded Lancers hosted No. 18 seed Addison Trail, and it was all Lake Park. Pitcher Connor Cook gave up just 2 hits and 1 run on the mound, and Lake Park registered 15 hits on the way to an 11-1 victory in five innings.
Cook worked ahead in the count all day, striking out the first three batters of the game and throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 21 batters he faced on the day. He finished the game with 8 strikeouts.
"When you're facing an elimination game, to have him come out and throw strikes is huge," Lake Park coach Dan Colucci said. "He really shut it down out there, and he pitched a great game."
After Cook struck out the side, Lake Park immediately spotted themselves a 3-run lead when designated hitter Zach Zimmerman took a first-pitch fastball to the opposite field for a 3-run home run. With the lead Cook continued to go at the Addison Trail lineup.
He didn't give up his first hit until the fourth inning. He walked the next batter to put runners on first and second with no outs, but catcher Michael Nielsen caught the runner at first napping with a snap throw for out No. 1, and Cook struck out the last two batters of the inning.
"It's not like we kicked the ball around. It's not like we went out and walked guys in," Addison Trail coach Mike Kennedy said after the loss. "They just hit the ball and that happens, but our seniors gave so much to our program this season."
In the fifth inning Addison Trail got on the scoreboard with an RBI double from Jake Atiyeh to cut the lead to 3-1. But in its half of the inning the Lake Park offense exploded. The Lancers scored 8 runs on 8 hits in an 11-batter inning, winning the game by 10-run rule.
"We got guys who can swing the bat up and down the lineup, and it was nice to see everyone having a nice day for us," Colucci said.