Lincoln-Way West Scores Six Unanswered, Knocks Off Sandburg

On Wednesday afternoon, Lincoln-Way West defeated Sandburg 6-3. After giving up three runs in the top half of the first, Lincoln-Way West answered with six unanswered runs to knock off Sandburg. 

Trailing 3-0 going into the bottom half of the first, Collin Murray, a Milwaukee Area Technical JC commit, led the inning off with a double to centerfield for Lincoln-Way West. Senior T.J Slazyk followed suit with a sharply hit single to left field and Murray then came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Owen Wolcott. After a Jacob Morris single, runners were at the corners for freshman Louisville commit Cole Crafton. Crafton knocked in both runners with a double to left field, tying the game at 3-3. Aidan Healy gave Lincoln-Way West a 4-3 lead, with a single to centerfield to score Crafton.

Lincoln-Way West would add two insurance runs in the fifth, leading to the final score of 6-3. Wolcott and Glenn Jackson got the inning started with an error and a walk. Later in the inning, Harrison Scroggins delivered a two-out single to left on a 1-2 count, scoring Wolcott and Jackson. 

After a shaky first inning, Nolan Larson found his groove and ended up going a complete game for Lincoln-Way West. Larson, who picked up the win, would go on to throw the remaining six innings without giving up a run and allowed just two hits. He worked his fastball to both sides of the plate, sitting at 76-78 mph and topping at 79 mph. He also mixed in a curveball, with 1/7 shape that worked at the bottom of the zone, at 60-62 mph. Larson completed his three pitch sequence with a mid-70s changeup. When all was said-and-done, Larson went seven innings, (93 pitches), scattered five hits, three runs, no walks and struck out nine.

Sandburg took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Senior Danny Durkin got the game started with a single to centerfield on a 1-2 curveball. Matt Morsovillo followed along with a single over the first baseman. Jayden Comia, a Illinois commit, gave Sandburg a 2-0 lead with a double to centerfield. Comia would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Israel Delgado, a Missouri commit. 

Grant Tenuta started for Sandburg, going four innings and struck out four. Tenuta’s fastball held at 85-87 mph. He also showed a curveball at 64-66 mph and a changeup that flashed sink at 72-73 mph.