Even though the temperature crept close to 50 degrees for Evanston’s baseball opener Monday at Northwestern University’s Rocky Miller Park, cold weather baseball was the order of the day.
That kind of baseball has been the blueprint for ETHS’ success under head coach Frank Consiglio since he took over the program. But the Wildkits came up short in their 2023 debut and dropped a 6-4 decision to Hersey.
The Kits’ offensive ratio of 10 strikeouts to just 5 hits, plus the fact that the Huskies recorded a staggering 8 hits with 2-strike counts against them, added up to an Evanston loss.
Find out what's happening in Evanstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“We struck out too many times and didn’t put the ball in play enough,” admitted Consiglio. “We didn’t play cold weather baseball. As soon as you don’t put the ball in play and the other team does, you’re at a disadvantage right away. It’s a challenge to try to win when you don’t make the (opposing) fielders field.
“Hersey did a better job making contact and they had the best at-bats with runners in scoring position. If you’re not good with 2 strikes you’re in trouble, especially in this kind of weather.”
Find out what's happening in Evanstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Hersey relief pitcher Matt Lemke mowed the Wildkits down after taking over in the third inning, leading 4-3. He only permitted two baserunners until the 7th, when Evanston staged a brief rally as Sam Sheikh socked a one-out double and came around to score on a two-out single by Eron Vega.
Lemke then retired Brandon Brokowski on a fly ball to left field to end the game.
Most of those 2-strike hits by the winners created a lot of traffic against 4 Evanston pitchers who followed starter Hank Liss to the mound. The ETHS ace struck out 5 in his scoreless 2-inning stint, and he was followed in order by Jared Lortie, Henry Rouch, Alex Vandurmen and Mason Denlow with mixed results.
Lortie surrendered 4 unearned runs in the 3rd inning and Denlow, expected to handle the closer duties for the Wildkits this spring, yielded a couple more “add on” runs in the 7th to make a potential comeback more difficult for the offense.
Evanston’s first four hitters of the game all reached base and Hersey starter Jeremy Allen, a junior, walked cleanup hitter Brokowski on 5 pitches to force home the first run of the contest. But the right-hander reached back to fan the next 3 hitters to limit the damage.
Charlie Kalil’s 2-out double plated Addison Blough in the 2nd, and he came around to score himself on a passed ball and a balk to make it 3-0 in Evanston’s favor.
That’s when the defense rested. Throwing errors by third baseman Vega and shortstop Kalil spoiled Lortie’s season debut as Hersey answered with a four-run 3rd, sending 8 hitters to the plate before he finally put out the fire.
Hersey didn’t score again until the 7th, when Brandon Pflomm walked to lead off the frame against Denlow. Denlow appeared to have the next batter struck out, but didn’t get the call from the home plate umpire on a 1-2 pitch and David Denton delivered a ground rule double to left on the next pitch.
One out later, Hersey designated hitter Keegan Luxem lined a two-run single to right to provide some insurance.
“I thought Vandurmen (scoreless 6th) stood out more than the others,” added Consiglio. “We couldn’t get the other guys to pound the strike zone, though. We have to get better, and we’ll get there.”
The Wildkits will host Walter Payton Prep Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at NU.
