H-F's Nietfeldt Honored as Athlete of the Week

The Homewood-Flossmoor baseball team has had quite a week.

First, the Vikings rallied around one of their seniors, Evan Nietfeldt, after his father passed away from cancer.

After attending both the wake and funeral for Nietfeldt's father, the team boarded a bus and headed to southern Illinois to play four games--minus Nietfeldt.

H-F went 3-1 on its spring trip and arrived back in Flossmoor less than 24 hours before playing its next game. The Vikings couldn't wait to reunite with Nietfeldt. And he couldn't wait to go back to work.

During H-F's 12-2 five-inning victory over Thornridge, the Vikings paid tribute to Nietfeldt's father by putting his name on the back of their hats. And, as for Nietfeldt's performance, he was shaky at times but still effective in picking up the pitching victory.

He is honored for his effort as the Patch Athlete of the Week.

“It was good to be back out here and get away from feeling all of those feelings,” Nietfeldt said. “I just relaxed, got out there and played with all of the guys.”

He was effective except for some control issues in the second inning, when he walked three Falcon hitters.

“I haven’t thrown since last Wednesday,” Nietfeldt said. “It was cold, and I was rusty until that third inning when I started loosening up a little bit.”

The senior right-hander struck out four and walked four. Vikings coach Todd Sippel was happy to get Nietfeldt out on the mound.

“I think him coming out here is very healthy—get into baseball and get his mind off of things … I think he is doing OK.”