“If I had mapped out a game plan for how we would do the first two weeks into the season, it wouldn’t have been this good,” mused a pleased Chris Ledbetter, head baseball coach at OPRF, upon his team scored 66 runs in eight games to start the season.
The Huskies (7-1) concluded their spring break on Saturday by trouncing West Suburban (Silver) Conference foe York with a combined score of 19-0 in back-to-back games. OPRF won the first game 9-0 with trusty pitcher Rick Foytik on the mound. Foytik (2-0) scattered six hits and walked two in six innings. He also struck out six.
But it was the bats that led OPRF to the wallop. Andrew Hagins had two doubles and four RBIs. His bases loaded double in the fourth inning broke the game open for the Huskies. Mike Cunningham added two RBIs in the rout. Hagin also went 2-for-3 with an RBI in OPRF’s 10-0 win in Game 2.
In the nightcap, the Huskies belted out six hits in the second inning that translated to five runs. They smashed seven hits in the fourth for five more runs. Jon Meacham finished with two RBIs. Neil Mejia threw a complete game one-hitter for the Huskies.
The Huskies pounded out 24 hits total in the doubleheader.
“I was kidding around with my fellow coaches that I can’t wait for it to get warm so we can really start hitting the ball,” said Ledbetter. “The team is just on fire right now. I realize it probably won’t continue to sustain itself throughout the season?#34;what team can bat .400??#34;but it sure is nice seeing in the early season. You can’t ask for a better start.”
OPRF’s slugging machine couldn’t have come at a better time. The team travels to conference rival Lyons Township for a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.). The Lions are ranked in the top 5 in both Chicago daily newspapers, and are a viable contender to win the conference this season.
The Huskies downed Glenbard East 11-3 on Thursday and Barrington 10-4 on March 29. Drew Golz earned the win over Barrington, allowing just four runs on six hits in five innings. Golz fanned six and walked three.
David Studer went 3-for-3 at the plate, with two doubles and two RBIs.
Ledbetter said that his team knows what is at stake in the upcoming series with LT.
“We don’t go in hoping we’ll get a game or two out of it. We go in with the expectations of winning all three games in the series,” he said. “That’s the mindset.”