Although it was a chilly night at the Walter R. Johnson Sports Complex, as the baseball team took on division rivals Waukegan for Senior Night, the heat thrown by junior pitcher Matt Dohse, the hot bat of senior Chad Uhler, and the smell of brats and burgers kept the Wildcats plenty warm.
It was a tale of two pitchers, Dohse and Waukegan starter Andrew Montemayor. Montemayor started hemorrhaging right away. In the bottom of the first, Senior Nathan Clark doubled in Nick Glass and Brad Martin, giving LHS the lead.
Then, a Michael McQuillen walk, a Tyler Schweigert grounder, and an A.J. Schurr walk loaded the bases. Montemayor dealt the next batter, Chad Uhler, a strike and a ball before Uhler converted the third pitch into a towering grand slam that nearly hit a Chevy pickup on 176. LHS now took the lead 6-0.
If the hot bats weren’t enough to secure a win, Dohse’s hot pitching certainly was. He ran into a bit of trouble in the third with two on and two outs, but with a full count, he was able to find the zone and strike out Waukegan outfielder Aaron Carr.
The Wildcats added a run in the third after McQuillen drove in Josh Prochotsky with a double.
The Bulldogs’ only spark was in the fourth after a sacrifice fly and a grounder scored two for Waukegan. It would be the only blotch on an otherwise clean sheet for Dohse, who showed an Andy Pettite-like focus throughout the game.
The game was all but over in the sixth after Montemayor allowed two more runs on an infield single and a groundout. Montemayor was then replaced, after going 5 2/3 innings and tossing 128 pitches. An error on the Waukegan third baseman then scored Nathan Clark and Brandon Fowkes. And the final nail in the coffin came as Michael Whartnaby knocked in Procotsky, making the score 12-2. The slaughter rule ended the game.