Defense was the story of the day for the LFBA 10U Blue team as they shutout Evanston 2-0 on Sunday to take home the Golden Glove trophy in the Lake Shore Feeder Baseball League Finals.
Pitchers and fielders controlled the game for both teams. Lake Forest took the field in the bottom of the first with Pierce Grieve pitching and exceptional fielding by Jackson Pearre, Richie Hoskins, AJ Davidson, and Brody Hender. Scouts remained strong in the second and turned to pitcher Matt Basgall in the third and fourth innings. The Scout infield continued to dominate despite a fourth inning threat, with catcher Henry Pickus making the tag on a steal to home.
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The Scouts breakout came at the top of the fifth inning when Pierce Grieve hit a grounder to center followed by a Matt Basgall hopper just past the second baseman. After steals at second and third on a wild pitch, Jackson Pearre hit a fly ball into center field bringing Grieve home. Basgall scored an insurance run on a base hit by Henry Pickus to take the lead 2 - 0.
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Scouts held the fifth inning with Richie Hoskins controlling the mound, backed up by finely tuned and aggressive fielding by Charlie Haggerty, Davis Gramza, William Rourke, Nicholas Braun and Thomas Swartout. With runners at second and third, he closed out the inning. Tensions were high during the bottom of the sixth, with the Scouts working hard to hold their lead and take the win.
The victory was the eighth consecutive win for the Scouts, whose season record of 10-3-1 placed them second in the Lake Shore Feeder League regular season standings.
"This was a huge turnaround for these boys," said Coach Frank Berry." We told them that last year is in the past. This is a new year, and we are going to coming together as a team and work as one. Every win we had this year was a team effort." Last year's record for this team was 4-10.
The team started its spectacular season with solid wins against Libertyville, Park Ridge and Wilmette. "It was clear from the start that this team had a lot of talent," said Coach Frank Berry," They came to the field every day and wanted to get better. Not one player ever complained and they put their heart and soul into this season. I can't wait to see these boys to continue to develop, not only into baseball players, but also mature young adults."
Mid-season proved tough for the 10U boys, losing three games in a row. Undaunted, Coach Berry started to change things up with a disciplined focus on the basics of fielding and infield plays. He also set one of the main goals as a team: to play their best baseball towards the end of the season.
"The first practice of the season, I told the boys that they will work harder than they ever have in baseball and it will all be worth it at the end of the season. Coach James and I challenged them every day, and each player constantly rose to the occasion. We told the boys daily, that the only game that matters, is the last game of the season. Well, the boys did just that and despite some early bumps in the road, they were crowned Lake Shore Feeder Baseball League Champions!" said Coach Berry.
"I cannot say enough about these boys," said assistant coach James McCaskey. "Each of them had the desire every single day to become better baseball players, and they showed tremendous improvement throughout the entire season," he noted.
