Kits Fall Short In CSL South Baseball Opener

Evanston’s baseball team still hasn’t learned how to win the close ones.

Leading three different times Monday at Deerfield --- after battling back from an early 6-run deficit --- Evanston’s bullpen couldn’t close the door on the Warriors, who scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to snatch a 12-11 victory in the Central Suburban League South division opener for both teams.

The visitors committed seven errors on a day where the 30-mile-per-hour crosswind made every ball put in play an adventure. The defeat dropped ETHS to 7-6 overall on the season, and five of those losses have come by one run.

The Wildkits have a chance to bounce back Tuesday when they finally get to play their weather-delayed home opener, also against Deerfield. The two teams will complete the series back at Deerfield on Thursday.

A wild pitch by the third Evanston reliever --- Zach Bachochin --- and a subsequent throwing error on the same play by catcher Ethan Carpenter allowed Deerfield’s Mason Hirsch to scamper home with the winning run with one out in the bottom of the seventh. It was the third error in the final two frames by the losers, who grabbed an 11-10 advantage in the top of the sixth but couldn’t get the last six outs to secure a win.

Except for the comeback his squad staged after trailing 8-2, Evanston head coach Frank Consiglio couldn’t find many positives in what he saw Monday playing in a wind tunnel.

“You can’t teach a team how to win one-run games. You can prepare them for different moments, but in the end a lot of it is between the ears. It comes down to mental toughness,” Consiglio said. “We did show some resiliency coming back like that. But coming back is one thing and keeping a lead is more about mental toughness. We had the lead three different times, so this is very disappointing.

“The most disappointing thing, though, is we’re one-third of the way into the season and we’re NOT getting better. Now we have to look at different starting lineups and what mix of guys can give us that improvement.”

The Wildkits wasted their best offensive performance of the campaign, including a 4-for-5 effort (with three runs-batted-in) by Aaron Shalin, plus two doubles and a single from cleanup hitter Owen Vander Velde that also accounted for three runs-batted-in. The Kits did strand five baserunners in the last three frames, however, when they had an opportunity to build a cushion once they did grab the lead.

“We didn’t execute offensively in the last couple of innings,” Consiglio agreed. “Our offensive execution is alarmingly low right now and that’s why we’re so inconsistent.”

Deerfield (now 4-5) chased ETHS starter Elliot Paul in the second inning, although only two of the six runs they scored against the sophomore were earned. Reliever Holden Bellis yielded two more runs in the third and two in the fourth before departing in favor of Cole Felten, who did pitch a scoreless fifth thanks to a bases loaded double play that ended a Warriors’ threat.

Evanston capitalized on four straight free passes issued by Deerfield right-hander Mac Jones to start the fourth to jump start the comeback attempt. Sophomore Dion Lane Jr., the No. 9 hitter, lined a two-run single to right that turned the lineup over and Shalin (single to right center) and Vander Velde (double in the same spot) powered the visitors to a seven-run splurge and a 9-8 advantage.

Back-to-back doubles by Shalin and Vander Velde, plus a clutch RBI single by Cole Vander Velde, sent the Kits back on top in the sixth. But they couldn’t dent Deerfield any more because Lane bounced into a bases-filled double play to end the threat.

In the seventh, Tate Schroeder worked a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. But Deerfield’s Logan Rosenthal, the fourth pitcher employed by the winners Monday, whiffed Owen Vander Velde on three pitches to stop the Kits from scoring any insurance.

Both teams will confront a new dynamic on the mound with the institution of a best-of-three series for all South division matchups this spring.

In the past, teams have typically relied on the No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers in their respective rotations for the Tuesday-Thursday matches on the conference schedule.

Now, head coaches must decide how to use their hurlers --- maybe even an “opener” for one of the starts like those used in Major League baseball now --- while also negotiating the weekly pitch count instructions that have been put in place by the Illinois High School Association.

Right now, however, Consiglio isn’t even clear as to which pitchers offer the best chance for success for the Orange and Blue.

“We’ve got talent, but I don’t know who our 1-2-3 guys are right now,” he said. “No one has taken the bull by the horns yet, and I still don’t have a handle on this group. We still have a lot of inexperience on the mound and it will have to play itself out.”