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Lake Park Routs St. Charles North, Advances to 4A Super-Sectional

June 12, 2021
By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

On Friday afternoon, in front of a raucous crowd, DuKane Conference rivals, No. 6 Lake Park and No. 7 St. Charles North faced off in the Sectional Finals at Lake Park HS. The Lancers of Lake Park stormed out to an early lead and never looked back, winning 12-2 in five innings, earning a trip to the 4A Super-Sectionals on Monday.

Senior LHP Jackson Kent (Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit) set the tone on the mound and with the bat for the Lancers. Kent came out in the top of the first inning pumping 88-91 mph fastballs and induced an inning-ending double play to put up a zero in the first frame of the game. In the bottom half of the first, Kent proceeded to send the Lake Park student section into a frenzy, launching a deep drive down the right-field line for a three-run home run. The big blast put the Lancers up 3-0 at the time and they would tack on three more before the first came to an end, heading to the second up 6-0. Junior Mason Baer walked and scored to lead off the game and added a run-scoring infield single in his second at-bat of the frame. 

Lake Park (31-4) continued to tack on runs with one more in the second and four more in the third inning. In the third, uncommitted junior Max Baer doubled and scored, senior Chris Worcester (Eastern Illinois commit) delivered an RBI single and senior Tommy Klco (Missouri Valley commit) chipped in with a two-out, two-run single to left field. 

St. Charles North (29-4) trailed 12-0 entering the top of the fifth inning and needed to score three runs to extend the game. Three consecutive walks loaded the bases and a Nick DeMarco (Notre Dame commit) RBI single followed by a Jayden Lobliner (Kansas State commit) hit-by-pitch, which scored a run, cut the lead to 12-2 and put a runner on third base with less than two outs for the North Stars. Lake Park had the answer however, turning to senior RHP Kolby Keatts out of the bullpen. Keatts proceeded to strike out the next two batters stranding the runner on third and cementing the 12-2 Lake Park victory in five innings. Keatts came in and pounded the zone with a fastball/curveball combination, consistently landing his breaking ball for a strike.

With the win, Lake Park advances to the 4A Super-Sectional where they will match up with New Trier at Triton JC on Monday evening at 7:00 pm.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

+ Chris Worcester (Lake Park): 3-for-3, 2 RBI, 3 R,
+ Jackson Kent (Lake Park): 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, R; 3 IP, Win, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K, BB
+ Tommy Klco (Lake Park): 1-for-2, 3 RBI
+ Kolby Keatts (Lake Park): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K
+ Ryan Caccia (St. Charles North): 1-for-1, BB, R

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