By Ryan Quigley
Illinois Scouting Director

OAK FOREST – Oak Forest used an eight run second inning and a strong pitching performance by senior righthander Jim Christian to take down conference foe Lemont 11-0 in five innings on Tuesday on the campus of Oak Forest High School.

Oak Forest took an early 1-0 lead on a perfect executed first-and-third double steal of home. Coach Ron Czarnecki said, “We wanted to be aggressive from the beginning, both on the base paths and early in the count going after fastballs. We’ve been sporadic hitting, but we are starting to buy in as a team to our approach”.

The second inning for the Bengals was anything but sporadic, as they sent twelve hitters to the plate, putting up eight runs on six hits. Lemont didn’t help their cause making five errors in five innings defensively, as Oak Forest capitalized on the mistakes. Senior second baseman Andrew Dominik and senior catcher Joe Muller both delivered knockout blows in the second with bases clearing doubles to left field. Muller’s line shot capped the scoring in the second, giving the Bengals a 9-0 advantage. Muller was the only Bengal to record two hits, but every hitter in the lineup, one through nine, reached base and scored a run.

Oak Forest added two more runs in the fourth, both unearned on Lemont infield errors and wild pitches. Christian took care of the rest, as the 6-foot-1, 185-pound righthander spun five shutout innings, allowing only one hit with six strikeouts. Lemont’s Garret Acton took the loss on the mound, but also recorded the Indians only hit. The Bengals sweep the two-game conference series from Lemont, after winning Monday’s contest 5-3.

“Jim Christian has learned how to pitch, it’s a credit to him. Two pitches over is tough to hit, when you have three going it’s near impossible. Jim has enough fastball that when he locates the curveball and change, it makes everything look that much faster”, added Czarnecki.

Oak Forest improves to 12-4 (9-1 in South Suburban Blue action), while Lemont drops to 10-6, 8-2).

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