Oak Forest, Edwards Shut Out Bremen

May 4, 2016

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Oak Forest 7, Bremen 0

CRESTWOOD, IL – Oak Forest and starting right-handed pitcher Mike Edwards were too much for Bremen on Tuesday evening. The Bengals jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first and thanks to a complete game shutout by Edwards on the mound, never looked back, eventually winning 7-0. The contest between the two south suburban schools was held in front of a packed house at Standard Bank Stadium, a neutral site and home of the Windy City Thunderbolts.

Uncommitted, junior Mike Edwards twirled a complete game shutout and chipped in with two hits at the plate leading the Bengals to the convincing win. The 6-foot-3, 211-pound, durable right-hander, worked efficiently, pounded the strike zone and kept the Bremen offense off balance with a true three-pitch mix. In the seven innings of work Edwards ended with a total pitch count 80. Edwards worked from a ¾ slot, getting arm-side-run to his fastball and commanded it to both sides of the plate. His fastball sat anywhere from 82-86 mph, touching 88 once. He also showed feel for his curveball and changeup, mixing them throughout. Curveball was thrown for strikes, 11/5 shape and sat 67-71 mph. Changeup flashed fade action and sat 71-75 mph. Edwards finished went seven innings, allowed three hits, no runs, walked one and struck out eight.

Oak Forest (13-4) got RBI singles by Edwards and Andrew Rodriguez in the top of the first, helping them jump out to the early 2-0 lead. After getting a run in the second and one in the third inning, the Bengals held a 4-0 lead entering the top of the seventh.

The Bengals proceeded to put the game away for good scoring three times in the frame. The final run came on a double steal with runners on first and third. The runner on first, Troy Hagadus, attempted to steal and the Bremen catcher fired down to second base and the runner at third, Tom Jager took off for home. The shortstop cut the throw off in front of the second base bag and fired the ball to home. However, the throw was off-line and the run scored to give the Bengals their seventh and final run. On the very next pitch, reliever Colin Walton got a swing-and-miss strikeout for the final out of the inning.

Bremen (16-4) starter Mike Fuentes, a Northern Illinois recruit, took the loss for the Braves. Fuentes battled for six plus innings, giving up two earned runs, striking out five, walking two and scattering eight hits. Early on Fuentes sat 86-88 mph, touching 89 once. Later on in the outing settled in at 84-88 mph. Fuentes used a fastball/slider combination throughout. He showed good feel for his slider, routinely throwing it for strikes at 73-77 mph.

More in-depth player notes will be posted in the Illinois Scout Blog later.

STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS

+ RHP Mike Edwards (Oak Forest) - 7IP, 3H, 0R, 8K, 1BB
+ RHP Mike Fuentes (Bremen) - 5.2IP, 8H, 2ER, 5K, 2BB
+ SS Tyler Suchy (Oak Forest) - 3-for-5, RBI, R
+ 1B Andrew Rodriguez (Oak Forest) - 3-for-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
+ RHP Colin Walton (Bremen) - 1IP, 0H, 0ER, 4K, BB