The Lake Park Lancers will venture away from home to challenge the Wheaton-Warrenville South Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Monday just wasn't the day for Lake Park's offense. They fell 4-0 to Glenbard North on Monday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last three times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Patrick St. John was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he pitched six innings while giving up four earned runs off seven hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Lake Park saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Rocco Jones, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.
Meanwhile, Wheaton-Warrenville South and Wheaton North faced off in a cross-town battle on Monday. The Tigers came out on top against the Falcons by a score of 11-6. The high-scoring effort was just what the Tigers needed considering they were shut out in their previous match.
Brandon Esposito was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. Those two runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Reece Franks, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Wheaton-Warrenville South was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .455. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Wheaton-Warrenville South's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-11. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for Lake Park, they moved to 13-11 with that loss, which also ended their four-game winning streak.
Lake Park was able to grind out a solid win over Wheaton-Warrenville South when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 5-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Lancers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
