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Baseball: Trevians begin picking up the pieces after devastating loss
New Trier's Chris Hall (right) taps helmets with teammate Josh Perlmutter after hitting a 2 run homer against OPRF during the Evanston baseball IHSA 4A sectional semifinal on Friday, June 1, 2012 in Evanston. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
Updated: June 11, 2012 5:56PM
The New Trier team looked bewildered as the players packed up their equipment from the dugout after losing to Oak Park-River Forest in a semifinal matchup at the Evanston sectional Friday.
New Trier held a 7-0 advantage to start the bottom of the sixth inning with ace pitcher Nick Hedge cruising along, shutting out the Huskies and recording eight strikeouts in the process.
That’s when it all started to fall apart.
No. 2 seed Oak Park scored five runs in the sixth and three more in the bottom of the seventh to win 8-7 and send the No. 3 Trevians (26-11) home, while the Huskies (28-9-1) moved on to defeat No. 1 seed Maine South.
“Our bats went to sleep a little bit, their (relief) pitcher did a good job and Nick got a little tired to be honest,” said New Trier coach Mike Napoleon. “And I think their hitters, especially in the bottom of the order, really battled him. They forced him to throw extra pitches, they got a couple guys on base, then all of a sudden they have their good hitters coming up. You know when something like that happens, eventually it’s going to come back and bite you.
“Hats off to Oak Park, they did a good job. They knew he (Hedge) was our stud and they had to battle through him and they did.”
Napoleon said he wasn’t surprised at what his squad was able to accomplish over the course of the 2012 campaign.
“We had a great senior class and those guys left a legacy behind them, as far as their work ethic and what they do for the community besides baseball. They were good, strong leaders for our underclassmen to look up to and develop over the years.”
The Trevians scored four in the first inning, two in the second and added one more in the third.
After New Trier’s Josh Perlmutter (2 runs, RBI) reached on an error with two outs in the second, Chris Hall (2-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs) made the Huskies pay when he sent one flying into the trees beyond Evanston’s 20-foot high Blue Monster in left field. Christian Carr had two hits, a walk and scored a run in the loss.
