By JEM-Photos by Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p864089257 **
Orland Park— A comeback in sports is a dramtic reversal of fortune where a player or teams recovers from a significant deficit, injury or long absence to win or perform at a high level. The team or player that makes that comeback revels in his accomplishment after being in a deficit, in some cases a considerable one.
On the flipside, the losing side or player has only thoughts of how did their advantage turn into a defeat, playing back and questioning in their heads moments in the game that could have gone different. This happens in every comeback defeat.
Comeback Wins are two-fold depending what side of it you’re on. Exhileration or complete Agony, It’s one or the other, nothing in between!
For Mike Erwin and his 12U Orland Park Warriors, the opportunity for a comeback presented itself after a dismal opening half first inning of play, giving up 5-runs to the visting Rynos Baseball Club on May 6 at Humphrey Sports Complex.
Showing the character and makeup of this Warriors ball team, they took on the challenge and eclipse the deficit to complete a fulfilling comeback win. Solid relief pitching, good eyes at the plate and finding their hitting sticks when needed most, combined as the catalyst to the victory.
“We got down early, we kinda been doing that the last couple of weeks, but the kids are battling,” said Coach Erwin. “Top to bottom our line up has been hitting a lot which makes it a lot of fun. If we get down, theres a lot of baseball to be played. Dont get down is what we keep preaching to the kids. Stay patient, we have a lot of good approaches at the plate, We have a really good defensive team and once we get into a grove defensively, we can hold teams and go one-two-three a couple innings in a row and give us a chance to get back into it, and thats what happened.”
This comeback win was especially special for the Warriors. Last season, they played this same Rynos team twice and were pummeled in both games, so one-upping them in a game that looked in total control for the Rynos early, only to watch a large lead be whittled down and eventually surpassed was ultra gratifying not only for the players but also the coaches.
“Our starter hadn’t pitched in nearly three weeks so when we started walking guys , our defense became flat-footed , we made some errors behind him when he was making good pitches, Tonight , we wanted to give him some innings because he is a good pitcher but he catches a lot in tournaments. He throws well and has a good arm. but once you start walking then you over-thorw and now you’re high all the time. He settled back dwn, took something off it and settled in.”
At 12U, walks tend to end up scoring, it’s part of the game at this level and younger. Ocassionally, a catcher may throw out an attempted steal but for the most part, a walk soon turns out to be in scoring position and tend to cross the plate eventually.
The Rynos erupted for five runs off a pair of hits, as five walks kept the visitors circling the bases. An error also didn’t help to open the game. Relief pitcher’ Austin Flynn came in to get the final out of the opening half inning via a strike out.
Down five, the Warriors first plate appearnces saw two batters reach base via a hit by Carter Erwin and a walk to Noah Tylka but were left stranded after a flyout ended the inning.
Flynn continued to pick up where he left off, getting Rynos out. He started the second inning inducing a comebacker, then a grounder to second base and followed with two stikeouts- Yup, four outs. his first strikeout saw the catcher unable to retrieve a loose ball in time to throw the batter out at first, however, Flynn simply stayed composed and struk out the next batter to retire the Rynos.
After a flyout to center, the Warriors began their comeback with a little help from the Rynos pitcher who couldn’t find the strike-zone. Three cosecutve walks loaded the bases and two runs scored on a single by Flynn. He too would later score when Jackson Barlog singled up the middle and drove in Tyler Zukowski and Flynn to close the gap to 5-4 after two.
Flynn again was on the Mound for the Warriors and did his job. After striking out the first batter of the third inning, he did conceed a single but that runner was left at third after a ground out to third and a line-drive to second secured the next two out to end the Rynos at-bats.
The Warriors would take a lead they’d never relinquish in their half of the thrid inning after scoring twice. Erwin again singled through the left side to start the inning. He stole second and scored when Tylka followed his steal with a single of his own.
Tylka scored the lead run an out later when Luke Katsoulakis grounded out. The Warriors now led 6-5 and with Flynn on the mound, looked to be in very good position headed to the fourth inning.
Flynn was on in this game. He continued to pepper the strike zone and retired the side gaining two flyouts and a grounder to second to keep the Rynos unable to score.
In three 1/3 innings of relief, Flynn was beyond stellar. From the moment he was handed the ball, he was cool and collected and went to the mound to get outs and did just that. Flynn faced 12 Rynos batters and allowed just a solo single, allowing just two to reach base and one was on an error after stiking him out.
“Austin Flynn, we’ve been waiting for that. He had a couple outtings earlier where he struggled, we’ve been waiting for him to kinda get into some rhythm and since he had it tonight, we let him go three innings, and he threw strikes. We tell our pitchers we got a lot of defense behind you, if you throw strikes, we’ll play defense and you saw that tonight. he did a great job as did our defense.” Erwin stated.
Austin Flynn had been gone a short time traveling but his return not only on the mound but also in the batters box was quite welcomed by his team. His performance on the mound while also contributing with the bat were all positives for the Warriors.
“I was pounding the strike zone, ” said Flynn. “I was trying to hit the strike zone and staying there with location. I was trying to eliminate the balls and I was also comfortable on the mound. Batting. I was seeing the ball and making contact, trying to hit the ball where it was thrown.”
The Warriors offense was on a roll now. Their fourth inning efforts saw them plate two more runs and up their lead to 8-5.
The Warriors scored twice after two were out as the first two batters struck out in the Warriors fourth at-bats. A walk to Christopher Leprete followed by another single by Flynn and an error by the Rynos right-fielder helped elevate the lead to a three run difference as they headed to the Fifth.
The Warriors made a change at pitcher going with Erwin to keep the Rynos in check. Things looked good as he managed to induce two grunders to second for a quick two outs. After a single, Erwin had some control issues walking three straight batters, forcing in a run.
But any thought of the Rynos recapturing the lead was squashed one batter later when a line-shot to first based was hauled in by Katsoulakis to keep the Rynos at one run scored heading to the bottom of the Fifth at 8-6.
Once again the Warriors continued to build on their lead. Their fifth time up saw the grandest of hits on the day delivered by Katsoulakis. Erwin started the inning with his third hit of the day and later scored, crossing the plate on an error by the Rynos Shortstop.
Erwin led the Warriors with three hits. He managed to get on base each time up while his ability to get on base provides opportunities for those that follow. He runs the bases smoothly and has a baseball sense that team leaders tend to have, scoring twice in the game.
“I was seeing the ball well, I was jumping on the first or second pitch,” said the hitting star. “I’m more on the aggressive side batting but curveballs I dont go after until I have two strikes. Over the years I worked on my swing. I thought I hit the ball pretty hard especially that first one but I’ve hit the ball harder at times.”
“I felt comfortable on the mound but I’m not crazy about it. I felt my slide step was working and at my best. I dont like a wind up so I’ve been usiing my slide step mainly because I like pitching from it way more. It was cold but I just blew into my hand and it was fine. I’m happy with the win. We knew the scouting report and where to pitch them.”
With Tylka on first on the Rynos generosity, the Warriors big stick was up at bat. Katsoulakis saw his teammates Tylka steal second and then third, then on the next pitch, he sent a moon shot over the right field fence for a two-run homer that brought the score to 11-6.
I was really thinking just get the ball to the opposite side because thats where my coach told me to go,” said Katsoulakis. “It was outside and the first time I swung at an outside pitch, I popped it up mostly because I wasn’t stepping through. But this time I did, swung full and it went over. I feel I’m a power hitter. I had three homers in three games over the weekend. I actually look for line-drives but that’s what happens when I look to hit liners. I’m really a power hitter. I do look for a pitch in a zone. I think I do a good job.”
After the Rynos were able to gain the next two outs, the game was called with the Warriors celebrating the come from behind win against a formidable opponent they have history with.
“The fun thing about this team this year is we’re scoring a ton of runs, we just came out of a tournament where we scored over 50 runs, it’s not just one kid. We had other kids contribute. It’s special because it’s a different kid every time so no kid has that pressure to produce solely. We have guys that get on base a lot and we turn the lineup over. It was great tonight, it was a fun game and we did a great job as a team.”
Other Warriors contributing to the win either by offense or defensive play included Luke Krokos, Keegan Watson, Drew Thompson and Nathan Velez.
The Warriors have several new players added to this years roster and are meshing with players who have been together since 8-year-olds. The combo is beginning to gell and will continue to be a work in progress all season but with Assitant Coaches’ AL Krokos, Jim Watson, Jon Barlog and Wally Zukowski, there’s plenty of help to make that porocess come together sooner than later.
