Prep Baseball Report

No. 7 Lake Park Knocks Off Geneva In a Dukane Conference Matchup


By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Geneva travelled to Roselle to take on No. 7 Lake Park in the first game of a three game DuKane Conference series. Behind the arm and bat of senior Jackson Kent, the Lancers of Lake Park came away with a 6-2 win. 

Kent, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound, talented left-hander has been the Lancers ace all spring long and he showed why yet again today. In front of a handful of MLB scouts, Kent challenged hitters with a lively fastball that topped at 91 mph in the first, sitting 88-90 in the early goings. As his four-inning outing progressed, Kent went to his 12/6 to 1/7 curveball that sat in the low-70’s, more often, gaining feel for it as he went. Kent ended up getting the win going four innings, scattering four hits, one run, walking two and striking out seven. There is a lot to like about Kent as he is a fast worker, has a presence to him on the mound and his athleticism carried over to the plate where is a middle-of-an-order threat for Lake Park. In the bottom of the first inning Kent, a left-handed hitter, delivered one of the biggest swings of the game, a two-run double into the right-center field gap.

Lake Park (23-4-1) scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. The first two batters of the frame were hit by a pitch and scored on Kent’s double. Senior Tommy Klco, followed with an RBI single and later scored on an error on the infield.

Lake Park tacked on insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Eastern Illinois commit, senior SS Chris Worcester doubled to right and scored on a hard hit ball to the right-side of the infield by Klco for the lone run in the fifth. UIC commit, junior OF Mason Baer tacked on the final run with an RBI single in the sixth to score senior Brian Patton who singled to start the rally.

Baer, also a left-handed pitcher, would come on in the top of the seventh to close things out for the Lancers. Baer threw 18 pitches and let up a lone single to secure the win for Lake Park. Baer sat 83-84 mph with his fastball and mixed in a sweeping breaking ball at 74 mph.

Geneva (13-11), starting pitcher, RHP Garrett Peters (Dubuque commit), settled down and threw well after the four run first inning. The 6-foot, 168-pound, right-hander sat 83-85 mph with his fastball early and went to an 11/5 curveball at 68-72 mph as his go-to secondary offering. Peters final line was six innings, seven hits, six runs (four in the first inning), four earned, two strikeouts and two walks.

Offensively, Geneva’s Owen Anderson took the best at-bats of the day for either side. The junior right-handed hitting catcher reached base in all four plate appearances, finding the barrel nearly every time he swung the bat. Anderson finished 3-for-4 with three singles to all different parts of the field. Junior OF Ryan Huskey finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored in the losing effort.

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