Lake Park posted their closest victory since April 16th on Thursday. They had just enough and edged out the St. Charles East Fighting Saints 2-1. This was payback for the Lancers, who suffered a 3-2 loss the last time these two teams met.
Colton Hardman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on six hits. Lake Park is undefeated when Hardman allows one or fewer earned runs, but 10-12 otherwise.
Kaylen Patel
| 05/07/26 vs St. Charles East | 3 |
| 04/16/26 @ Wheaton North | 2 |
| 04/14/26 vs Wheaton North | 2 |
| 04/09/26 vs Conant | 2 |
| 03/23/26 @ Willowbrook | 2 |
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Kaylen Patel, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases. Those three hits gave him a new career-high.
Lake Park hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They are 4-1 when they post two or more strikeouts.
Lake Park's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 14-12. As for St. Charles East, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 16-8 record this season.
Lake Park will have a chance to go back-to-back against St. Charles East: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
