Bring Out the Brooms: Oak Forest Sweeps Tinley Park in High School Baseball

The Bengals only needed 5 innings Tuesday to take down the Titans, 11-1. Oak Forest also defeated Tinley on Monday, 10-3. Check out photos and video from the games.

Play Ball! Oak Forest HS Baseball Starts Season With a Win (Photos)

The Bengals beat Andrew High School, 6-4, during the team's season opener last week. Check out this Local Voices gallery of the game.

Sunday Comics

Sunday Comic: Obama Sees Rough Months Ahead

What is it that has the president so pessimistic as spring unfolds? Oh ... that.

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Oak Forest Baseball Stuns Mount Carmel

Congrats to the Bengals on their comeback win!

Hospitalized Student Recognized in Baseball Parade

Teams from the Oak Forest Baseball Association took time during and after their annual parade on Saturday morning to honor Alex Fitzgerald, the 12-year-old Jack Hill Middle School student who was struck by a car in April.

Hundreds of players, coaches and parents from the Oak Forest Baseball Association rode in the annual parade Saturday morning. Gathering at the baseball diamonds in Convent Park after the parade, association members took a few minutes to recognize Alex Fitzgerald, a baseball player on the association's pony league "Cardinals" team. Known as "Fitz," Fitzgerald was struck by a car on 151st Street while walking home from Jack Hille Middle School. The school is located just a short distance from the park. A group is working on an official Facebook page and donations page for those who wish to contribute to the fundraiser for Fitzgerald. Everyone also has the option of writing a check to "Fighting for Fitz" and taking it to the Oak Forest City …

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Oak Forest Baseball Association Lends Helping Hand to Team in Need

After hearing of robbery, Oak Forest officials donated equipment to help out an inner-city baseball team in need.

Mike Staunton had seen the impact Oak Forest Baseball Association (OFBA) could make on young kids. His two sons–ages 12 and 10–had both been playing in the league since before they even entered grade school. So, when Staunton heard about an inner-city team in need of baseball equipment, he knew exactly where to go. “We donate a bunch of equipment each year, so this was just a situation that had occurred and we were trying to help out,” said Todd Simon, president of the Oak Forest Baseball Association. It all started when a criminal decided to steal the station wagon of Charles Daniels, coach of the Chicago Hornets baseball team on Chicago's South Side. Daniels stored all of the team’s baseball equipment, including shoes and uniforms, in …

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White Sox Trade for Oak Forest Graduate Frasor

Relief pitcher Jason Frasor, who graduated from Oak Forest High School in 1995, is heading to the Sox in a deal that sends pitcher Edwin Jackson to Toronto.

After spending his first seven major league seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, relief pitcher Jason Frasor is coming back home to the South Side. The Blue Jays and White Sox agreed to a trade on Wednesday morning that will send Frasor, an Oak Forest High School graduate, and pitcher Zach Stewart to Chicago in exchange for starting pitcher Edwin Jackson. The White Sox will also be sending utilityman Mark Teahen to Toronto as part of the trade, and the Sox will also receive pitching prospect Zach Stewart. Over the last three seasons, Frasor, 33, has evolved into one of the American League’s best middle relief pitchers. He had his breakout season in 2009, going 7-3 with a 2.50 ERA and 11 saves for the Blue Jays. This year, Frasor is 2-1 with…

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Three Guys, Five Years, Every MLB Stadium: Author Describes 'bLISTful' Trip

Author/tourist Todd Franiuk heads to the Evergreen Park Library to a provide a taste of travels he, Matthew Hart and Sfoklis Nikiforos chronicled in 'A bLISTful Five Years: The Baseball Stadium Tour.'

Five years. Todd Franiuk and friends took their time and covered 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, each team's hometown, foods along the way, baseball stats and lists of every sort, including unusual city names along the way, like Climax, Mich. And he's coming to the Southland to talk about it. To read more about Franiuk's book, A bLISTful Five Years: The Baseball Stadium Tour, check out this week's SouthScene arts and entertainment column. You'll also find an interview with an original member of the Buckinghams, a Polish festival on the hill, free concerts of all genres across the Southland, an intimate chance for dinner and chamber music, plus some murder and mayhem with mystery writer Helen Osterman.

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Local Sports Notebook

Oak Forest's Barry Playing for Crestwood Panthers

Recent Oak Forest graduate Tim Barry is testing his slugging ability with a wood bat this summer for the Panthers, whose home games are at Prairie State College.

Recent Oak Forest High School graduate Tim Barry is playing for the Crestwood Panthers this summer. The Panthers are an amateur baseball club that plays home games at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. Barry, who has been playing third base, was 2-for-7 on the season heading into Saturday’s home game. Here is the team’s schedule if you want to go check out a game. The Panthers play in the Northern Illinois and Chicago Suburban baseball leagues and use wood bats. In other Tim Barry news, the slugger was named first team All-State by the Chicago Tribune for the recently completed high school season. Earlier this week, Barry was named one of Patch’s Top Spring Athletes. Oak Forest ace Kyle Funkhouser was named second-team All-State by …

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Last Look: Oak Forest Baseball Season Filled With Highlights

The Bengals advanced to the IHSA state title game for the first time since 1985. That wasn't the only thing, however, that made the season special.

It was Friday early afternoon at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, and the Oak Forest baseball team rushed the field. The Bengals had just defeated Nazareth Academy in the Class 3A state semifinals, and they were heading to state championship game. The Oak Forest crowd went crazy in the stands, lending its support to the Bengals team that was playing for all the marbles for the first time since 1985. The dream playoff run for the Bengals was alive for another day. With only two seniors on the Oak Forest team, the underclassmen had a big responsibility to rise up and play beyond their age, and the upperclassmen, Bobby Sheppard and Tim Barry, had a big responsibility to teach and lead them. The start of the season was rough at times. On Saturday…

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