The Formula Works; Not In Favor of the Rams
Chicago, IL March 22, 2017
The formula to winning in the game of baseball is quite simple. To quote an American classic, Bull Durham, “You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.” If a team struggles to throw the ball over the plate resulting in eight walks, three of which result in runs, it’s very tough to win a ballgame. If a team does not take advantage of hittable pitches and swings at pitches out of the zone it is tough to win a ballgame. If a team struggles to catch the ball resulting in four errors during the game it is tough to win. This was the tail of the tape for the Rams in their 6-4 loss to Lane Tech Tuesday afternoon.
Junior David Rios got the start on the mound for the Rams. It was clear he dealt with some butterflies in his first career varsity start allowing four runs (three earned) in the first two innings of Tuesday’s contest. Rios lasted four innings allowing three earned runs while walking four and striking out two. In relief, junior Spencer Cody earned the loss going one inning allowing an earned run while walking three and striking out two. Senior southpaw Omar Otero took the hill for the second time in two days allowing an earned run over an inning of work. In his first appearance on the mound in his varsity career, senior Neil Freeman showed promise for the Rams pitching the seventh inning allowing no runs and striking out two. “We have to throw strikes. We have to make adjustments and we have to get our minds right when we are on the hill. Plain and simple. We walk three guys in the first two innings and all three come around to score. Final score, Rams lose by two. When we sharpen our performance on the mound we will win ballgames,” said Rams pitching coach Mike Wieda.
On a positive note, for the second day in a row senior Zach Stanley showed leadership by example as the Rams catcher. Both on defense and at the plate Stanley has contributed to the success of the Rams and has no plans in slowing down any time soon. Stanley got the Rams on the board in the bottom of the first with a sharp RBI single and did it once more in the third inning with another sharp RBI single. This sparked the Rams offense for a moment as, for the second day in a row, senior Jake Patzelt and sophomore Ryan Martin contributed to the offense, Patzelt added the Rams third run of the game with an RBI single which was then followed up by an RBI single from Martin. Unfortunately, this would halt the DePaul College Prep offense for the afternoon. Through five innings, the ballgame was locked in a 4-4 tie. The Indians broke the tie in the fifth scoring two; which would later result in a final score of 6-4 in favor of Lane Tech.
DePaul College Prep will have the day off on Wednesday before teaming up against the Colonels of Francis Parker Thursday evening at 7:30p at Kerry Wood Field. Veteran southpaw Jimmy Montijo is scheduled to take the mound for the Rams in his 2017 debut. If you cannot make it out to Kerry Wood Field on Thursday be sure to follow all of the live Rams baseball coverage on Gamechanger which can be found on the DePaul College Prep baseball website.