Baseball: Lincoln-Way East walks off with a win over Libertyville

FRANKFORT – With Saturday being Senior Day at Lincoln-Way East, Tyler Bell did not start the nonconference game against Libertyville.

But, the Griffins’ junior entered the game late and played a huge part in a 5-4 walk-off win.

Bell came to bat in the bottom of the seventh with a score tied at 4 and runners on second and third and nobody out. He swung at the first pitch he saw and lofted a fly ball to center, deep enough to score courtesy runner Gavin LaDere with the winning run that improved his team to 25-6.

“I was just looking for something I could drive,” Bell said. “I wanted to try to put the ball in play and get that run home. I didn’t try to do too much.”

He did just enough, as the Griffins did.

Lincoln-Way East honored seniors Jack Cosich, Josh Safarik, Connor Jendraszak, Daniel Giusto, Zach Kwasny, Trevor Fishman, Connor Bird, Preston Wallace, Aiden Knipper, John Connors, Jared Velez and Blake Binkowski prior to the game, and all saw action in the contest. Wallace started on the mound and he got relief help from Bird, Jendraszak and Kwasny, who earned the victory with two shutout innings.

After Wallace held the Wildcats (16-11) scoreless in the first, the Griffins got on the board in the bottom half. Connors singled with two outs, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on a double to right by Knipper.

East had an excellent scoring chance in the third, but came away empty. Velez led off with a double to left and went to third on a single by Bird. A fly to center wasn’t deep enough to score the runner from third, and Libertyville pitcher Justin Benes struck out the next hitter and induced a popup to escape the jam.

The Wildcats tied it in the third. With one out, Drake Johnson singled and went to third on a single by Jack Land. Quinn Schambow then grounded to second, scoring Johnson.

Libertyville greeted new pitcher Bird with a walk and back-to-back singles to load the bases. Bird then induced a tap in front of the plate, but the throw home got past the catcher and allowed two runs to score. A sacrifice fly by Johnson scored the third run of the inning and gave Libertyville a 4-1 lead, which they took into the sixth inning.

In the sixth, Lincoln-Way East‘s offense picked up a bit. Knipper led off by getting hit by a pitch and, an out later, Bell doubled to put runners on second and third. A single by Velez scored courtesy runner Daniel Giusto, and Bell came home on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Matt Hudek. A single by Cosich loaded the bases, but Libertyville’s Anthony Fry struck out the next two hitters to preserve the lead.

Connors led off the bottom of the seventh with his second single of the day, and Knipper, batting cleanup, bunted for a hit. Fishman then laid down a bunt, and Connors came home when the throw to first sailed over the first baseman’s head and courtesy runner LaDere went to third, setting up Bell’s game-winner.

“We had some good team at-bats,” Bell said. “We got some bunts down late and we were able to get those runs across.”

East coach Eric Brauer was happy with the comeback victory.

“The guys did a good job, especially late in the game, of staying within themselves,” Brauer said. “I think early in the game, with it being Senior Day, the guys were pressing a little bit. We were able to get back to doing what we do.

“No one is immune from the bunt sign on our team. There may be one or two that we really don’t want to bunt with, but sometimes it’s the right call for the team and it was good to see us get them down late in the game today. Tyler Bell came off the bench and executed well. We had a lot of good at-bats, especially in the last two innings.”