Unable to put together a late rally, the Parklane Pioneers lost 6-3 to the Oak Forest Yellow Jackets on Tuesday night.
“We didn’t get it done defensively. We made a couple of miscues. Offensively, we just had that one inning where we scored three runs, other than that, they kept us pretty silent for the night,” Parklane head coach Robert Young said.
Henry McDonald started the game for the Pioneers on the mound, and avoided trouble in the first inning after he loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter with one out. McDonald would strike out the next batter, and the following one would fly out to left field to end the top of the first.
Oak Forest took the lead in the second inning after Jeb Malley doubled to right field off of McDonald and brought home Bransen Schwebel for a 1-0 lead.
Extending their lead in the third, Oak Forest went up 2-0 after Jude Giardina hit a sacrifice fly to center field and brought home Kolton Kendrick, whom McDonald had previously walked, to score. Runners on second and third base came home to score for Oak Forest after Bransen Schwebel singled to center field for 2 RBIs and a 4-0 lead.
Parklane’s only offensive showing came in the third inning. The Pioneers loaded the bases with their first three batters after Bailey Winters was walked, Payton Yawn was hit by a pitch, and Logan Yawn’s attempt of a sacrifice bunt served good enough to keep him safe at first base. Cory Lewis hit a one-out double to left field and brought home Brandt Watson, who was pinch running for Winters, and Payton Yawn to narrow the deficit to 4-2. A wild pitch by Oak Forest’s Dylan Dover allowed Logan Yawn to come home to score, making it 4-3.
The Pioneers stayed quiet for the rest of the night offensively, despite several opportunities that presented themselves throughout the rest of the game. They went down 5-3 in the fifth inning after an overthrow to first base allowed Oak Forest’s Conner Alston to advance to second base and bringing home Giardina who had previously singled in the inning.
McDonald was taken out of the game after allowing a solo home run from Kendrick in the 7th inning, and then a single from Cade Newsome. McDonald finished the game with 7 strikeouts, 5 walked batters, and one hit batter. Robert Pickett came in and finished the pitching job for the Pioneers on the night.
Young said he hopes to see a team effort on display from his guys when they travel to Oak Forest Academy to complete the series in a doubleheader at 5 and 7 p.m. Thursday.
