Baseball: Lyons Township bows out of playoffs against Brother Rice again, savors ‘heck of a ride’

CHICAGO – Senior second baseman Troy Stukenberg could only reflect briefly on the end of the Lyons Township baseball season Wednesday.

”I’ve got to get to graduation,” Stukenberg said.

Thanks to players like senior captains Stukenberg, Frederick Ragsdale III, Jack Falls and James Georgelos, the Lions have graduated to sectional status the past two seasons.

Once again, however, their season ended in the sectional semifinals and at the hands of Brother Rice, this time 7-3 in the Class 4A Mt. Carmel Sectional. The start time was moved up 90 minutes to accommodate LT’s graduation that evening.

”That’s baseball. Just proud of every single senior, all 18 of them,” Stukenberg said. ”Everyone had a role on this team. It was a heck of a ride. Tears will be shed but I can’t be more proud for every single guy. I think we left pretty big shoes (as seniors) to fill and I just hope they can admire what we tried to accomplish and hopefully make it farther than us next year.”

The top-seeded Lions (25-10) received two doubles from Stukenberg, his first following a single by leadoff hitter Ragsdale that gave the Lions a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Falls’ infield ground out and Sam Viniard’s sacrifice fly brought in the runs.

The next solid hit by Stukenberg with the bases loaded in the second resulted in an inning-ending double play. No. 4-seed Brother Rice (23-15) then took the lead for good with a four-run third, including a three-run homer by senior leadoff hitter Bryce Nevils that struck the left-field scoreboard.

The Crusaders also eliminated the Lions 5-3 in last year’s sectional semifinal after the program’s first regional title since 2014.

”It’s tough to lose this group. This group was good with their leadership and work ethic. They got that from last year’s senior group. That’s the part I’m going to miss the most,” LT coach Kevin Diete said. ”It’s kind of like building a house where we say the foundation is laid. Now we just have to keep building layers and get to where we want to be.”

While Brother Rice added two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth on RBI doubles by Amir Gray and Ryan Hartz, the Lions stranded Viniard on second after he led off the fourth with a single and Falls on third after his leadoff double in the fifth. Ragsdale, who was 3 for 4, singled to start the seventh. He moved to third on Stukenberg’s double and scored on Falls’ sacrifice fly. Senior catcher Brian Engels was 2 for 3.

Starting and losing pitcher Nate Anderson (3-2) was the winning pitcher in relief Saturday for the 4-3 regional title victory over Oak Lawn on Georgelos’ two-out, two-run walkoff single in the seventh.

”That’s kind of where they (Brother Rice) were good. They got the timely hits. We didn’t,” Diete said. “It’s just the way baseball goes sometimes.”

Stukenberg, who will play at St. Xavier, set program records for hits in a season (52 this year) and varsity career (85) during Diete’s head coaching tenure since 2015. Ragsdale, who will play at Kent State, has the single season (22 last year) and career (42) records for stolen bases.

”It’s a cool thing I can tell my kids when I’m older. I’m proud to say I took as many as I could,” Stukenberg said. “It’ll be cool to see my name kind of go up in the rafters if you will with LT baseball, something to be proud of.”