By Sean Duncan
NORTHLAKE – Leyden ace Jon Weaver couldn’t ignore the implications of the Monday’s game against No. 13 Downers Grove South. A win would inch No. 19 Leyden closer to its first West Suburban Gold championship since 1990 and, personally, potentially impact his future.
With a large contingent of pro scouts clocking his every pitch, the senior right-hander swallowed down his butterflies and gave the most dominant performance of his impressive high school career. Weaver struck out 15 and hit a three-run homer to boot to lead Leyden to a 9-1 victory over the red-hot Mustangs.
Behind an 89-91 mph fastball and a hard slider, Weaver (5-1) opened the game with six consecutive strikeouts. After walking the first batter of the third inning, Weaver proceeded to punch out the next seven batters. Overall, he yielded three hits and walked two in 6.1 innings.
“It was completely nerve-wracking,” said Weaver, who is committed to Heartland CC next year. "I saw all the scouts and I was like shaking. But I just went out and had to do what I had to do. I couldn’t let it get to my head. … My stuff was working pretty well today."
Leyden (17-3, 12-1) moved one game ahead of Downers Grove South (21-5, 11-2), which entered the game on an eight-game winning streak. The two teams play Tuesday and Wednesday to likely decide the West Suburban Gold championship.
“This meant a lot to the team,” said Weaver, whose towering three-run homer to leftfield made it 9-1 in the sixth. “We haven’t won a conference championship in a long time so we knew we had to come out and start well.”
Leyden broke open the game in the fourth with four runs thanks to two Downers errors and a two-run single by Matt Soch. Senior shortstop Tim Mackey went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Cam Stephens added two hits for the Eagles.