Sports
Baseball: Oak Forest, Linares Start Postseason in Fine Form
Oak Forest 9, Rich East 3. Junior pitcher allows just three hits in six innings as the Bengals roll to the regional semifinal victory.
Touching All the Bases: The playoff run for South Suburban Conference champion Oak Forest has begun. The Bengals been saving junior pitcher Kyle Linares for the postseason by limiting his starts and having him serve as the designated hitter. On Friday, Linares made the wait worthwhile.
Linares, who has suffered from tendinitis in two spots in his right arm, started only his third game of the season. He helped the Bengals defeat Rich East 9-3 in the semifinals of the Bremen Regional. The game was played at Howie Minas Field in Midlothian because Bremen’s field was still too wet.
Linares (3-0) pitched six innings, struck out eight and allowed only three hits and one earned run.
Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On the offensive side, Oak Forest capitalized on several Rich East errors. Cody Murray got Oak Forest on the board with a two-run single in the first inning. Oak Forest scored two runs in the third, taking advantage of two errors and a passed ball, for a 5-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Oak Forest scored three more runs, taking advantage of two more Rocket errors.
Rich East scored three runs in the sixth, highlighted by an RBI double off the bat of starting pitcher Erik Otterson. Oak Forest closed out the game with one inning from junior pitcher Arthur Johnson.
Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Patch’s MVP: Kyle Linares (6 innings pitched, 8 strikeouts, 3 hits, 1 earned run; RBI single at the plate)
Oak Forest’s Leaders: In addition to Linares, center fielder Cody Murray (1-for-4, 2 RBIs), first baseman Tom Livingston (3-for-3, 1 RBI), Arthur Johnson (1-for-2, 2 RBIs).
Rich East’s Leaders: Starting pitcher Erik Otterson (6 innings pitchced, 10 strikeouts; 1-for-3 at the plate with an RBI), second baseman Aaron Lewis (1-for-2).
Quotable: Linares on not dwelling on a conference championship, but focusing on the playoffs: “It’s awesome to win (conference); I’m happy. But now we have to look past that.”
Quotable II: Rich East coach Brad Wieher on his team’s season: “This is the best baseball team that Rich East has had in a long time. We’re proud of them. We took second in conference and had a record over .500, so we leave with our heads held high.”
Team Records: Oak Forest improves to 22-7-1. Rich East finishes the season at 13-10.
What’s Next: Oak Forest takes on the Morris on Saturday in the championship of the Bremen Regional. Morris beat Bremen 6-1 on Friday.
