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Schools

OPRF Summer Baseball Season Ends in Regional Quarterfinals

Huskies blanked in loss to York.

The Oak Park-River Forest High School summer baseball season ended earlier than hoped Tuesday, but coach Chris Ledbetter found one silver lining.

“As the father of two young kids, it’s my turn to go home for three weeks and spend every second with them right now,” said Ledbetter after the Huskies lost to York 7-0 in the Fenwick Regional quarterfinals of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Phil Lawler Summer Classic state tournament at the Priory in River Forest. “It’s disappointing, but I don’t beat myself up at it like I did my first couple of years [as a coach] because I understand there’s time for adjustment, there’s time, if we want to put in the work, to get better."

OPRF (17-9), the No. 5 seed in the regional, was limited to two hits and struck out seven times with no walks against York junior-to-be pitcher River Pitlock, son of former 1970s major league pitcher Skip Pitlock.

Even before Pitlock took the mound, the 13th-seeded Dukes (12-17) had scored five runs in the top of the first inning, including a two-run homer by sophomore designated hitter Anthony Santos.

Zach Weigel led off the Huskies’ first with a double and Alex Rice hit a leadoff single in the second, but after that their only baserunner was Ryan Nelson, who reached on an infield error with two outs in the fifth. Four one-pitch outs helped Pitlock work a complete game with fewer than 80 pitches and survive the sweltering temperature and heat index even in the later afternoon.

“(Pitlock) threw strikes, got ahead. We take some fastballs and swing at some offspeed stuff. We just had a bad approach to hitting today,” Ledbetter said. "For some guys that’s been their thing and if they don’t get it corrected, unfortunately, we can’t play them next year."

Weigel reached third base on an infield grounder but Pitlock then got a grounder back to him and a strikeout to end the threat. Rice was snuffed out on a double play and Pitlock got a one-pitch comeback for the third out after Nelson reached base.

Senior Jack Picchiotti, the Huskies’ varsity starting catcher since freshman year, batted third Tuesday but played second base because of an inflamed elbow. Ledbetter said he tried to rest another returning starter, Matt McCormack, since he has been involved in football workouts in the tough weather conditions. McCormack later played right field and threw out a runner trying to score on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

York had 14 hits but relief pitchers Max Guzzetta (3 1/3 innings) and Weigel (3 innings) allowed just two runs after the Dukes’ first five batters had hits against starter Nick Kowalczuk. The Dukes added a run in the third while their trail runner intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second base and another run in the fourth on a single with an outfield error.

“I think we’ll be fine with the pitching (next spring). We just have to make some routine plays,” Ledbetter said.

This past spring, the Huskies won their 12th straight regional title and reached the Mt. Carmel Sectional final before.

Ledbetter said he's learned summer successes or disappointments don't necessarily determine a team’s fate the following high-school season.

“We’ve had summers where we’ve played extremely well and then it didn’t translate to something in the spring. Two times we lost our first game in the summer tournament and went on to play in the state championship game the next year,” Ledbetter said.

In Wednesday’s semifinals at the Priory, York plays Nazareth at 1 p.m. and Lyons Township, the Class 4A high-school season state champions in June, meets St. Joseph at 3:30 p.m.. The championship game is at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Priory.

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