By Drake Skleba

 

NEW LENOX ? In a Class 3A Lincoln-Way West Sectional semifinal, No. 22 Oak Forest spotted Rich Central an early 4-0 lead and then rallied past the Olympians 9-4 to advance to Saturday?s sectional Champiohip Game at 10.

 

Rich Central (22-7) jumped all over Oak Forest starting and winning RHP Kyle Linares (3-0). The Olympians unloaded on the Bengals (24-7) for four runs. Senior 2B Nick Collins and senior Matt Cole had RBI singles to give the Olympians a 2-0 lead. The Olympians would pick up a third run on a Bengal error and senior SS Jordan Smith?s booming double plated the fourth run for Rich Central.

 

Oak Forest picked up two runs, in the second on a bases loaded walk to junior DH Arthur Johnson and a sac-fly by junior C John Zubek

 

An unearned run in the third closed the gap to 4-3 and senior Bobby Sheppard?s two-out, two-run single in the fourth gave the Bengals a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.

 

?We knew Rich Central was a good team,? said Sheppard. ?We played them earlier this season and we beat them but they battled us. Kyle Linares settled down after the first inning and shut them down the rest of the way. I went right up the middle with the big hit to get us the lead in the fourth. We feel very confident with Kyle Funkhouser on the mound Saturday.? 

 

On the mound, the resilient Linares had closed the door on Rich Central.

 

?I was throwing a new pitch in the first inning and things didn?t work out,? said Linares. ?I went back to my normal repertoire of pitches and finished up with a solid game.?

 

The Bengals iced the game with a four spot in the sixth. Linares ripped a two-out, two-run double to make it 8-4 Bengals and junior 2B George Jester singled home the final Bengal run of the inning and the game with an RBI single.

 

With the win, the Bengals will take on Joliet Catholic Academy (23-9), who outlasted No. 14 Lemont 8-7 in eight thrilling innings. University of Louisville recruit junior RHP Kyle Funkhouser (10-0) will be on the mound for the Bengals.

 

?Kyle Linares struggled in the first inning but really turned it around for us,? said Oak Forest head coach Thad Gatton.

 

?Bobby Sheppard is one of our seniors who have led us all year. We feel confident with ?Funk? (Funkhouser) on the mound but Joliet Catholic can really hit the ball, so we will have to play our best to win.?

 

Rich Central closes out a solid season as the Southland Conference champions.

 

?We jumped out to that early 4-0 lead and got a little complacent,? said Rich central head coach Corey Stallings, Sr. ?It was a great season for the program, which we are trying to revive back to the 80?s glory years.?