The Oak Park and River Forest High School varsity baseball team won their senior night matchup May 14, beating Proviso West 11-1. 

The Huskies were down 1-0 in the first inning but had multiple hits in the rest of the innings, including four runs in the bottom of the third. 

Also contributing to the Huskies’ success were walks from seniors Zach Goldberg and Johnny Nelson. Senior Julian Garcia-Bariel got hit by a pitch, sending two players on base with no outs. 

Senior Liam Moroney got a single that drove in Goldberg to make the score 3-1. Senior Oliver Puntillo hit a base-clearing double to make the score 5-1, and Moroney scored the sixth run of the game off a Proviso West error.

In the next two innings, the Huskies added a few runs to their score. In the bottom of the fourth, Nelson got a base hit off an error, then Moroney tripled and Nelson scored to make it 7-1. 

Puntillo walked, and Moroney scored on the sacrifice fly by senior Rylan Soble to make it 8-1. A sacrifice fly is when the batter makes an out by the ball getting caught in the outfield, but that sacrifice can advance a runner on the bases or even score the runner. 

In the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Ian Moore hit a triple, and senior Tucker Henry drove him home with a single making it 10-1. 

After the game, a few of the seniors reflected on how this program has shaped them as people and players. Nelson said, “I think it’s big on determination. Just as a baseball player you’ve got to come out everyday, just repeat the same things. It’s definitely a grind and out here it’s a lot of fun to play with my boys and shaped me into a man.”  

Henry added how he feels hard work has helped him in the real world. “The first thing that came to mind was hard work,” he said. “This program has definitely shown me how to work hard, and that’s something I’ll carry on for the rest of my life, not just these past four years playing for OP.” 

Reflecting on how senior night affected the players personally, Nelson said, “It’s kind of a sad moment, ending my career here, not playing with my boys anymore in a few weeks. But we still have some time left, so we’re going to take advantage of it.” 

Henry was also emotional about senior night. “I’ve been playing with these guys my whole life, so it’s definitely sentimental and awesome to just get one more game playing with these guys,” he said. “It was just great overall.”  

Moroney had similar thoughts. “It’s definitely a great time to have fun…kind of thank your parents for all they did throughout the years,” he said. “I mean, it’s only possible because of them. It’s just a great time to kind of remember it all.” 

Nelson added, “I definitely think we’re almost like brothers. A lot of us have been playing for even more than high school, especially a lot of the Oak Park guys. So I mean, it’s much more than baseball with us. We’ve a really tight bond. We’re doing almost everything together outside of baseball, so that’s bigger than baseball.”

Head coach Kevin Campbell said, “It is bitter sweet, especially when you have a senior group like this one. Part of you is really excited to have been a part of their journey and see them take the next step in their lives. Then you have the other part of you that is really sad to see them taking that next step, because you want to them to still wear the Huskies jerseys for years to come. This is a very close senior group and we are lucky to have them.”

Campbell also talked about how baseball has shaped them as men. He said, “We talk about this all the time; we are here to help our players improve as baseball players and win games. But the most important part of what we do is helping them become the best young men they can be. Often, we won’t truly know the impact we had until two or three years down the road.”

Coach Michael Lorenz had similar feelings about the seniors departing after the season ends. He said, “It’s really special to see the seniors finish strong.  The amount of time and effort that they put into OPRF baseball is massive. In this game, I don’t think there’s anything better than representing yourself, family, community, alumni, and school by playing with your lifelong friends and working together to achieve success.  These seniors are awesome and impress me daily on and off the field. They truly are great people.”

The Huskies hope to win their upcoming conference games and make a run at regionals.