The College of DuPage baseball (2-5) were coming off a rough road trip in Tennessee and Mississippi, winning their first two games followed by a five-game losing streak. Their last game on March 3 against Rend Lake College in Marion, IL ended in a 2-12 loss. They looked to shake off their streak in their first home game of the season on March 5, against the Illinois Valley Community College Eagles (0-1).
The Chaps were the first to get on the scoreboard, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second, with the Eagles responding with two in the top of third.This was followed by one in the bottom half, then three more the next inning making the game 7-2.
But the Eagles slowly crawled back, scoring one run in both the fifth and sixth, then two runs in the seventh. COD only responded with one, and the game entered the eighth inning with the Chaparrals winning 8-6. The sun was setting fast with the field having no lights to play on.
Illinois Valley then tied the game 8-8 as they went to the bottom of the eighth inning. Soon, the darkness was starting to affect the game as it was getting harder to see the ball. But the Chaps scored on a double by Rocco Luciano to take the lead 9-8 and the umpires called the game after that due to darkness. The Chaps now have a 3-5 record so far on the season.
Head coach Pat Leahy talks about how the team performed in the game and how back and forth the game was.
“It was a bit back and forth but they hung in there the whole ball game. Pitchers got it to the next guy, which is all we ask [the pitchers] to do.” Leahy said, “And they kept fighting the whole way and were able to pull it out in the end.”
Leahy made note that the ending of the game was unusual, but it always boosted morale to take the win at home. He said the team will be preparing for the next set of games.
“That’s something we talk about all season long, even going back to the fall, how we’re gonna make adjustments, day to day and week to week.” Leahy said, “Regardless if it’s good or bad, we’ll take it back to the drawing board here tomorrow.”
The Chaps were originally planning to play on March 7, against the Harper College Hawks (2-8) at home for a doubleheader, but due to heavy rain in the early morning, the two games were postponed. On Sunday, March 8, the Chaps played one home game against the South Suburban College Bulldogs (6-4) in which they lost 3-4, putting them now at 3-6 so far in the season.
Next week, the Chaparrals will play a doubleheader at home against the Kennedy-Kings Statesmen, on March 13. Game one against the Statesmen starts at 12:00 p.m. and game two at 2:30 p.m.
On March 14, the Chaps will then play at home against the Morton College Panthers at 1:00 p.m.
