Oak Lawn Spartans Share the SCC Title With Reavis On 'Mission From Gerny'

OAK LAWN, IL—With four games remaining on the conference schedule, the Oak Lawn Community High School baseball team faced an ominous road to try to secure a share of the South Suburban Conference Red Championship. The team needed a near miracle.

The Spartans needed to win all four games, one of which was against an imposing Oak Forest team. The Spartans beat Oak Forest, 7-6 in 10 innings. Then, they needed Lemont to beat Reavis. Lemont did its job. Finally, they needed to sweep the Rams in the final two games of the conference slate.

All the pieces fell unbelievably into place ahead of Tuesday’s showdown with Reavis. With huge pitching performances from Justin Canvin and Evan Thacker, the Spartans pulled the rabbit out of their hat and won, 4-1 at Skip Sullivan Field. The victory gave Oak Lawn a much-deserved share of the championship plaque.

“I am proud of the way this team has battled injuries throughout the season,” head coach Bill Gerny said. “They are such a fun group of players to be around, and it has been a privilege to watch them succeed. They deserve it, and they earned it.”

Tuesday’s win marked the third time this season that the Spartans beat the rival Rams with the first of the three coming in the magical nonconference game played at Wrigley Field back in April. It marks the third time in Gerny’s career as skipper of the Spartans to conference glory.

Oak Lawn will finish out the regular season this week and aim for more magic in the Illinois High School Association playoffs next week. They will face Jones Prep to open postseason play.

“We are in a tough regional and sectional, but I am excited to go into battle with these guys,” Gerny said.

~Contributed by Brian Frangella, OLCHS Feature Writer