CRESTWOOD –
Kyle Jannenga's double in the seventh inning was the difference in Roosevelt stopping Lewis' 10-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory Tuesday at Ozinga Field.
James Berry and
Kekoa Ogawa led off the seventh for the Lakers (7-16) with singles, but they were in danger of being stranded after the next two batters recorded outs. A pitch that slipped away from the Lewis catcher allowed Berry to take third and on the next pitch, Ogawa stole second.
Jannenga worked deep into the count, but left no doubt about the result of his at-bat when he lashed the pitch into the gap in right centerfield. Berry and Ogawa easily scored and Jannenga wheeled into second with his 12
th and 13
th RBIs to his name.
Roosevelt received two standout performances on the mound from
Kellan Turner and
Trent Ottaviano, who combined to limit the potent Flyers offense to one run on seven hits. Neither pitcher walked a batter with an error and hit batter being the only other two base runners for Lewis.
The Flyers had four of their hits in the first two innings off Turner, but managed to score just once with those chances. In the first, Lewis ran itself out of the inning when a runner tried to go from first to third on a single, but the runner on second held up at third, giving Ogawa an easy tag for the third out.
Turner faced more trouble in the second after a catcher's interference call erased an out for the Lakers and put a runner on base. A subsequent double scored the Flyers' only run, but the senior righty hunkered down and induced a groundball to escape. He neutralized a single in the third with an inning-ending double play then navigated a clean fourth and fifth innings.
Roosevelt made sure Turner would at the very least not pick up an unlucky loss by immediately tying the game in the bottom of the second.
Fabian Cruz hit a single up the middle then
Aiden Brushaber wore a pitch on the elbow to put runners on first and second for the second consecutive inning.
Sebastian Casillas came through this time for the Lakers with a single to right field that allowed Cruz to score with ease from second.
The Lakers put a runner in scoring position with one away in the third but could not convert. They then loaded the bases in the fourth with two outs before Lewis escaped with the game still tied.
Meanwhile, Ottaviano faced the minimum in his first three innings of work, with the only base runner he allowed being caught stealing second. The senior from Huntley did allow a one-out double in the ninth inning but got the next two batters to roll over on easy groundouts to finish the game for his first win in two years with the Lakers.
UP NEXT: Roosevelt will host its first conference series this weekend with a slightly altered schedule. The Lakers and Parkside will now play a doubleheader Friday starting at 1 p.m.
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