On a picturesque Saturday morning at Northwestern’s Rocky Miller Park, the long-awaited season opener for the Kits finally arrived. After the team’s exciting 31-8 record last season, Evanston gave fans a good look to see if it can replicate the success of last year’s sectional final finish.
While many new varsity faces were featured in the starting lineup, the Kits were led by veteran seniors Eron Vega and Charlie Kalil in the season opener, defeating the Loyola Ramblers, 8-4.
Kalil went 2-4 on the day with three RBI and Vega allowed just one earned run on the bump in Evanston’s win.
Vega started his day fairly strong, striking out two batters in the first inning. However, the senior ran into a bit of trouble in the second after a ground ball allowed the Ramblers to go up 1-0. A passed ball later in the inning pushed that deficit to two. Evanston head coach Frank Consiglio highlighted a few of the mistakes that occurred.
“It was very evident today that a few guys hadn’t been in this type of spot [before],” Consiglio said. “[Guys] struggled with two striking pitches, executing pitches, and doing their job at the plate.”
However, Loyola’s time in the driver’s seat didn’t last long. Junior Owen Vander Velde would advance on an error, and Vega helped his own cause by sending him home with a line-drive double. Senior Matthew Luczak followed that up by scoring Vega off an RBI single and tying the game up at 2-2. On the mound, Vega didn’t allow a Rambler run the rest of the day, and the Kits continued to pile on runs, starting in the 4th inning. Walks, singles, and steals—including a home plate steal by Kalil–put the Kits up 7-2 in a four-run inning.
“Run control is the biggest advantage early on in the season. I thought that if there was anywhere where there was a clear advantage, it was run control,” Consiglio stated. I thought we did a really nice job on the bases.”
Loyola had an opportunity to get back into the game in the fifth inning following a pair of walks given up by senior Noah Cryns. But even with the bases juiced and nobody out, Cryns struck out the next batter and forced a double play right after to end the inning. In the most precarious defensive situation in baseball, Cryns only gave up a run.
“[Cryns] doesn’t [generate] much contact, so it’s a lot of deep counts and a lot of swings and misses,” Consiglio said. “I don’t mind the traffic with him as long as he’s executing the pitch where we can get a ground ball or something hit in the air.”
The Kits scored a run and allowed a run but closed out the Ramblers in the seventh inning. Evanston will play at Rocky Miller Park on Monday afternoon against top-ranked Hersey, who defeated the Kits last season in March.
“[Hersey] is a tough top-ten team,” Consiglio said. “They’re supposed to have a ton of talent so it’ll make us better either way.”
