Lincoln-Way West gets wild, walk-off win against Lemont

NEW LENOX – It’s often said that timing is everything.

And the Lincoln-Way West baseball team certainly is an advocate of the philosophy after a 7-6 walk-off win over visiting Lemont on Saturday morning.

The Warriors collected only seven hits on the day, but none of them were wasted. Every hit contributed either to a run being scored, providing a baserunner that would eventually score or both.

“It was nice to get some big hits,” Lincoln-Way West coach Jake Zajc said. “But I thought our approach in the second and third innings, we kind of got away from us and who we are. We kind of got away from that and started swinging at some bad pitches. We kind of got back into it with some execution on some bunts and got some big hits.”

The last hit of the seven helped West avert disaster. After allowing Lemont to erase a three-run deficit in the top half of the seventh inning to tie the score at 6, Collin Murray hit a ball deep in the hole between the shortstop and third basemen, which he legged out for a well-deserved infield hit.

A sacrifice moved Murray to second and after an intentional walk put two runners on, and an unintentional walk loaded the bases. Then Murray came home to score the game-winning run on a wild pitch, four pitches into the at-bat of pinch hitter Brandon Pritchard.

“We’re happy with the win. You know with a team like Lemont they are never going to give in,” Zajc said. “There was a little pressure for us, and it was a good experience for us.”

Lincoln-Way West started the game by scoring two runs on a home run by Owen Walcott. Lemont would answer back with a pair of runs in its half of the second inning, as Kyle Kostes provided a two-run double.

But then Warriors’ starting pitcher Reagan King went into lockdown mode. King wouldn’t allow a Lemont hit over his next three innings of work, only allowing one Lemont run to score when a free pass eventually came in on a wild pitch.

In the meantime, West built King a little bit of a cushion. In the West third, Caleb Wilkey reached on a dropped third strike and would come home quickly when Murray bashed a triple into the gap. Murray also would score on a double play groundout later in the frame.

Two more runs scored on a mammoth blast from Cole Crafton in the fourth. Crafton’s blast gave Lincoln-Way West a 6-3 lead, and it appeared that even though the Warriors offensive attack had been tampered down they might need to add more.

King was relieved after five innings and the bullpen struggled to keep the Indians in check. A double play helped them out of potential trouble in the sixth, but they weren’t as fortunate in the seventh. Jake Wilk provided an RBI triple to shave the lead to 6-4 and a sacrifice fly from Austin Murray made it 6-5. Austin Small coaxed a walk and pinch hitter Jaden Ortiz laced a double to tie the score at 6.

The Warriors didn’t dwell on the sudden twist of fate, however, engineering the run to secure the win in the bottom half of the seventh.

“We’ve had some ups and downs this season, but our kids have never quit,” Zajc said. “It’s impressive, and I kept telling them this is what we are, this is what we’ve built. Up five or down five, we keep battling and fighting back.”