Oak Lawn Erupts for 19 Runs to Overwhelm Crete-Monee

The Oak Lawn varsity baseball team delivered an offensive masterclass on Wednesday afternoon, crushing host Crete-Monee 19-2 in a non-conference matchup shortened to five innings by the run rule. Backed by 10 hits, 11 walks, and aggressive baserunning, the visitors overpowered the Crete-Monee pitching staff from the outset.

Oak Lawn wasted no time taking control of the contest. The visitors pushed four runs across the plate in the top of the first inning, capitalizing on early wildness from Crete-Monee starter Wyatt Love. They completely blew the game open in the second inning, erupting for a massive nine-run rally. The surge was fueled by an onslaught of walks, timely hits, and Crete-Monee defensive miscues, extending the Oak Lawn advantage to a commanding 13-1.

Junior Jacob Szykowny was a standout for the Oak Lawn offense, finishing a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate. He launched a home run, drove in four runs, and scored twice to anchor the lineup. Junior H. Abdelfattah was a constant spark plug at the top of the order, going 1-for-2 with three runs scored, two stolen bases, and reaching base safely in all plate appearances.

Oak Lawn continued to pile on in the middle innings, adding three runs in both the fourth and fifth frames to reach their final total of 19. They also wreaked havoc on the basepaths, tallying nine stolen bases on the afternoon, led by three from junior Logan Thacker.

On the mound, a trio of Oak Lawn pitchers combined to limit the Crete-Monee offense. Eli Kulpinski, Blake Hovanes, and Evan Thacker teamed up to toss five innings, allowing just two runs on two hits while striking out 10 batters.

Crete-Monee struggled to find a rhythm offensively, managing only a pair of singles from AJ Monegan and Adonys Ferrell. Monegan provided a brief highlight for the hosts, going 1-for-2 with an RBI and three stolen bases. Defensively, Crete-Monee committed five errors, compounding the struggles of a pitching staff that surrendered 11 walks to the relentless Oak Lawn attack.

Game Summary

Score by Quarters

(Note: Innings played)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|
| Oak Lawn | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 19 | 10 | 2 |
| Crete-Monee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 2 | 5 |

Scoring Drives

• 1st Inning: Oak Lawn strikes early, plating four runs in the top half of the inning. Crete-Monee answers with a single run in the bottom half.

• 2nd Inning: Oak Lawn blows the game open with a massive nine-run rally, taking a 13-1 lead.

• 4th Inning: Oak Lawn tacks on three more runs. Crete-Monee manages one run in the bottom half to make the score 16-2.

• 5th Inning: Oak Lawn adds three final insurance runs to cap off the 19-2 victory.

Individual Statistics

BATTING:

• Oak Lawn: Jacob Szykowny 2-2, HR, 4 RBI, 1 R; H. Abdelfattah 1-2, 3 R, 1 BB; Logan Thacker 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R; Aiden Schopper 1-2, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB; Justin Canvin 1-1, 2 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB; Danny Strelow 1-1, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB.

• Crete-Monee: AJ Monegan 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB; Adonys Ferrell 1-1, 1 R; Keyshon James 0-2, 1 R; Chris Schubbe 0-1, 2 BB.

BASERUNNING:

• Oak Lawn: Logan Thacker 3 SB; H. Abdelfattah 2 SB; Justin Canvin 2 SB; Zac Gillett 1 SB; Danny Strelow 1 SB.

• Crete-Monee: AJ Monegan 3 SB; Chris Schubbe 2 SB; Keyshon James 1 SB; Jack Deutsche 1 SB.

PITCHING:

• Oak Lawn: Evan Thacker 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; Blake Hovanes 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Eli Kulpinski (W) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K.

• Crete-Monee: Adonys Ferrell 2.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 0 K; Wyatt Love (L) 1.1 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; Elijah Clemons 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K; Tyler Burnett 0.1 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.