Oak Park and River Forest senior baseball pitcher Luke Gotti has been a dominant force out of the bullpen for most of the past two seasons.
But against crosstown rival Fenwick, May 8 at Triton College before a boisterous capacity crowd under the lights, Gotti showed he can be an effective starter as well, turning in a splendid effort as the Huskies notched a 8-2 victory over the Friars.
“This was a game where we looked as a staff and said we’ve got to give it to Luke,” said OPRF coach Kevin Campbell. “He did an unbelievable job, kept the energy up. His focus was completely dialed in from start to finish, and he brought home a big win for our community.”
At one point, Gotti (7 IP, 2 runs, 4 hits, walk, 5 strikeouts) retired 12 consecutive Fenwick batters. He felt he needed to take a no-nonsense approach toward the Friars.
“Just go after them,” Gotti said. “Fenwick’s a good team, but I know I’ve got the stuff to compete with them.”
OPRF (19-12) struck for two runs in the top of the first inning, aided by some shaky Fenwick defense. Mason Phillips led off with a double off Friars’ ace Mike Sosna, then Timmy Leark walked. Fenwick catcher Finnlay Koch’s throw to third on a double steal was errant, allowing Phillips to score. Leark scored with two outs on a passed ball.
In the top of the second with one out, Eddie Bravo (3-for-4) singled, then Ryan Slade walked. With two outs, Sosna hit Phillips with a pitch to load the bases, then Fenwick first baseman Luke Hickey misplayed Leark’s ground ball, gifting OPRF two more runs.
“You can’t make errors against good teams,” said Fenwick coach Kyle Kmiecik. “That was very uncharacteristic of us.”
Fenwick (23-8) got on the board in the bottom of the second on a RBI single by freshman Josh Morgan. But Morgan was thrown out at home by OPRF right fielder Carlo Lissuzzo trying to score on Tommy Clark’s two-out single to end the Friars’ threat.
The Huskies plated another run thanks to Fenwick’s third error of the game in the fourth inning. With two outs, Koch attempted to throw out Phillips trying to steal second, but his throw went into center field, allowing Bravo, who was on third, to come home.
“Our lineup’s got the ability to put up a lot of runs just with the bats,” Campbell said. “But we’ve kind of gotten back to the roots of baseball — bunt guys over, steal, hit-and-run — and it all came together tonight.”
OPRF knocked out Sosna from the game with a three-run fifth. Brady Green and Johnny Nelson each had RBI doubles and Slade an infield RBI single in the frame.
Sosna went 4.2 innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. However, only three of the runs were earned.
“Mike did a very good job,” Kmiecik said. “When you play good teams, you can’t get behind on good hitters. But give OPRF credit where it’s due; they were locked in and mashed the ball. And they capitalized on our mistakes.”
Fenwick got the game’s final run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Lazewski. After Gotti fanned Morgan to end things, he was pleased with how OPRF fared.
“That was a team win right there,” he said. “We hit, pitched, and the team backed me up in the field. We’re starting to click, and there’s more chemistry. These boys are my brothers for life.”
With both OPRF and Fenwick in the upcoming IHSA Class 4A Fenwick regional, there’s a very good chance of a Huskies/Friars rematch in the final, May 25. It’s something both schools would relish.
“The road doesn’t stop here,” Gotti said. “We’ve got to keep going.”
“The good thing is that hopefully we get another opportunity to showcase what we can do come playoff time,” Kmiecik said.