Tinley's Lapthorne Takes Timely Hitting to the Max

For Max Lapthorne, a walkoff hit has been a long time coming. In fact, the 18-year-old never had one in a Tinley Park Titans uniform. That is, until Thursday afternoon against Shepard.

With two out in the bottom of the seventh and the game tied at 2-all, it was up to Lapthorne to try to get the winning run in from second base. He delivered a frozen rope line drive between first and second, and Kyle Sheridan huffed his way from second base to score, .

"It felt awesome to get the walkoff hit. I haven't had one since I was 9 years old," said Lapthorne, whose youth baseball years included time with the Tinley Park Bulldogs. "It felt really good to come back and get the win."

The victory lifted the Titans’ record to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in the South Suburban Red.

Lapthorne currently plays first base, after playing second nearly his entire life prior to this season.

"It's less action, and I have a good time over there," he said.

He plans to attend Michigan State University to study economics.