Three EBSA travel baseball teams won divisional championships in the Lake Shore Feeder Baseball League playoffs, which concluded this year on July 26 at Community Park West
in Glenview. The 10 Blue, 10 Orange, and 14 Orange teams all emerged as playoff victors, earning the coveted Golden Glove trophy.
The victories came in front of hundreds of fans from Evanston and other area communities who filled the stands and lined the foul territory of the manicured fields at Community Park West on a hot and humid day in late July.
Evanston’s 10 Blue team won the 10A division playoffs, defeating top seeded Northbrook 10-9 in a thrilling championship game that saw the score tied until the top of the 6th inning,
when Evanston took a 1-run lead and held it through the bottom of the inning.
The 10B division championships immediately followed on the same field. Evanston’s 10 Orange team swept their division, defeating Lake Forest by a whopping score of 17-2 in
the finals.
At the same time on a different field, the 14 Orange team won the 14B division after besting Mt. Prospect 4-3 in the bottom of the 7th by forcing a bases-loaded, 2-out walk to win the championship.
For the 10 Blue team, the championship victory represented the team’s second consecutive year as league champions, largely the same group of boys who had won the 9A league championship that previous year.
Members of all three teams were awarded special hoodie sweatshirts for their part in the win. Each championship team also took possession of the Golden Glove trophy for the corresponding division, which remains in possession of the team for the coming year and is passed from player to player throughout the year.
Evanston’s Travel Baseball season begins in spring and extends through playoffs in late July. Tryouts for next year’s teams begin in January. Information is available at ebsaorangecats.com.
Evanston’s 14 Orange team, winners of the 14B championship
(wearing blue-colored jerseys): Back row (L to R): Jordan Nicholson, Ethan Watrous, Ben Teeter; Middle row (L-R): Ethan Harvey, Thomas Neumann, Head Coach Greg Otte, Assistant Coach Gill Hurtig, Quinn Sieja; Front row (L-R): Alex Brady, Aaron Kite, Sam Taylor, Hank Hamann, Nolan Clarke, Isaac Urow.
Evanston’s 10 Orange team, winners of the 10B championship
(wearing blue-colored jerseys): Back row (L to R): Derek Lanes, Dylan Svets, Mads Hansen, Mac Mettee, Head Coach Marcus Mixon, Assistant Coach Russell Snapp; Middle row (L-R): Assistant Coach Marcus Hampton, Jack Kaplan, Jackson Baker-Katz, Mason Denlow, Jason McDermott; Front row (L-R): Devin Fox, Chris Vye, Trevor Johnson, Henry Barbaro.
Members of Evanston’s 10 Blue team
(wearing orange-colored jerseys): Top row (L-R): Jonah Ross, George Haracz, Henry Liss, James O’Connor, Theo Baldwin Edwards; Middle row (L-R): Dylan Groff, 2nd asst coach Oliver Baldwin Edwards, head coach Alex Cutler; bottom row (l-R): Assistant coach Kenzie Yewman, Ryan Grossman, Wyatt Stover, Dylan Denlow, Sam Sheikh, Ryder Bellios, Brandon Brokowski