In the bottom of the fifth inning against New Trier Tuesday night, baseball’s prospects were as dull as the rainclouds rolling over the field. Down 5-1, the Kits were struggling to string together enough contact off Trevian pitcher Max Kaplan to build the momentum for a comeback. As a rainbow arched across the outfield, senior Noah Cryns hit a grounder to New Trier shortstop James Novakovic, scoring teammate Braden Grimm from third.
Unfortunately for the Kits, that second run of the game would also be their last. After ending the top of the fifth with a strikeout, Evanston’s defense broke down, allowing six runs in the last two innings—five in the seventh alone. After 7 innings had passed, New Trier (11-3, 4-0 CSL) took the 11-2 win over Evanston (9-3-2, 0-2 CSL) to remain undefeated in conference.
“Today, we didn’t throw strikes, we didn’t hit well, we didn’t make adjustments at the plate,” Evanston head coach Frank Consiglio said. “The worst part about today was our leadership in the dugout and in [the] game wasn’t good.”
Senior Eron Vega led off on the mound for the Kits, walking the second batter and allowing a single by junior Trey Meyers and a double from senior Evan Olesker that put the Trevians up 1-0 in the top of the first. After Kaplan struck out two Kits batters to close out the inning, New Trier returned with vigor. Sophomore Mason Bloom ran home on an RBI by Purdue commit James Novakovic for the team’s second run. Two errors allowed senior Sam Nigro to advance home for the third run before Vega managed to strike out Olesker to end the inning.
“You can’t give a good team a 3-0 lead and expect to fight back,” Consiglio said. “It puts a lot of pressure on your offense.”
With five strikeouts and five walks, Vega turned the ball over to fellow seniors Mchenry Mason and Alex Vandurmen to pitch the final innings. The Trevians hit four singles and two doubles during Vega’s time on the mound.
The Kits didn’t record a hit until the seventh inning, when senior Matthew Luczak took a base on a single to center field. All other base runners for Evanston came on fielding errors or walks.
Before the game, both teams honored New Trier head coach Mike Napoleon on his 28th year of coaching. Last year, Napoleon became the “winningest” baseball coach in the IHSA with his 951st victory.
The team has a chance at redemption later today when they take on New Trier at the Trevians’ field at 4:45 p.m.. The third conference game of the season offers Evanston the chance to tie up their CSL record.
