A six-run 6th inning for the Kits on Tuesday night propelled them to victory against longtime rival New Trier during their first encounter in almost two years. 

When the final out was recorded, Evanston took home the victory of the Trevians, 8-3.

Early on, New Trier took control. After a scoreless first, the Trevians managed to put up three runs in the top of the second inning. Evanston slowly worked its way back into the game, putting one run over the plate in both the second and third innings.. From there on out, New Trier held onto a 3-2 lead until the Kits rallied in the sixth inning.

An RBI single in the 6th from sophomore Hank Liss drove in the tying run, and soon after, it was Liss himself advancing to home on a wild pitch that gave the Kits the lead. By the close of the inning, Evanston found itself on top by five, carried by Liss’ bat.

“I’m just contributing as much as I can. In those situations I love to be there, I practice a lot for it, and my teammates are the most supportive guys ever. The goblins on the bench, just love the energy,” Liss said.

The “pine goblins” — the varsity squad’s given nickname to non-playing members of the team, tasked with drawing up energy for the players — are most assuredly an asset to Evanston’s recent success. Their presence made the energy at the diamond palpable.

“They put up a three spot, they had runners on [and] we had some big double plays in big spots, but we were able to keep them at three and just chip away. Once [we got] on top, they made some mistakes, and we were able to capitalize on that,” coach Frank Consiglio said.

Liss’ brother, senior Joe Liss, started the game for the Kits and kept them in the game behind some tough in-field defense. Two 6-4-3 double plays between junior Alex Vasquez, senior Peter Barbato and senior Connor Groff to get the elder Liss out of trouble in the 3rd and 4th innings provided the Kits with momentum. 

Senior relief pitcher Briggs Bossert came in and pitched three scoreless innings to finish out the game, which was the first edition of the Evanston-New Trier rivalry in a long time.

“It’s so great for the kids,” Consiglio explained. “They only get one junior year, one senior year. I think it’s fantastic for the kids to be able to get out there and compete and play in front of a nice crowd against a good team. I think they’re having a lot of fun, which is awesome.”

Today, the Kits dropped the second game of the back-to-back against New Trier, 12-3.