Oak Forest Sees Room for Improvement in Postseason

Despite its

Specifically, coach Thaddeus Gatton said his team didn’t hit well with runners in scoring position.

“We were a little flat,” Gatton said. “Our situational hitting was poor.”

One example came in the second inning, when the Bengals left the bases loaded. In the third inning, the Bengals stranded a runner at third base.

Gatton said his team needs to cut down on its strikeouts. Both the second and third innings ended with strikeouts by the Bengals.

Even junior starting pitcher Kyle Linares was frustrated with his outing, despite going six innings while only allowing one earned run.

“I didn’t have my stuff today, I’m not going to lie,” Linares said. “I was sore from the get-go.”

Linares has battled tendinitis in two spots in his right (throwing) arm since his freshman year. The Bengals have been saving him for the playoffs by limiting his starts.

Friday’s game was supposed to have been played on Wednesday but was pushed back because of the weather. Gatton would have liked for it to have been played Wednesday because it will take Linares a longer time to recover.

“He’s not going to bounce back as quick as (pitcher Kyle) Funkhouser, so I don’t know where we stand right now,” Gatton said. “But, we have to win (Saturday), that’s all I know.”

The Bengals play Morris today at 10 a.m. in the championship game of the Bremen Regional.

Bengals 'Overachieved' for Conference Crown

Before Friday’s game against Rich East, Oak Forest won the South Suburban Conference with an 18-1 mark.

“It’s a great accomplishment for this team as young as they are,” said Gatton, whose team has only two seniors. “We were picked third in the conference and we overachieved, I think, a little bit. Obviously, with Funkhouser on the mound, we’re pretty good.”

Linares already wants to move on from the conference championship to focus on the playoffs.

“(Winning conference is) good, but now I just want to go far and try to win state,” he said. “That’s my goal now.”