Colin Everson is one of the stalwarts on a young Cook County American Legion baseball team. The team recently split a home doubleheader against Chisholm. Colin, who will be a senior this coming fall, plays a variety of positions but can often be found behind the plate in his catcher’s gear.
Our North Shore American Legion baseball team opened the season Saturday, June 16 with a double-header split with Chisholm, 13-12 and 3-6. I haven’t had as much fun watching baseball games in a long time. Our starting line-up was made up of five players who had just finished the eighth grade, one freshman, a junior, and two seniors! Dylan Quaife and Daniel Wilson each started a game as pitchers and carried the team offensively along with Colin Everson, who started the first game behind the plate, and Richie Furlong, who led off and played center-field.
The story of the day, however, was the play of the incoming freshmen, Frankie Miller at third; Rory Bakke at second; Jaret Baker at first; Lucas Phillips in left; and Owen Anderson in right. There were physical mistakes made, but these boys played very fundamentally sound baseball, and it was fun to watch.
Owen Anderson made several big catches in right. Frankie Miller played like a veteran at third base and Jaret Baker stood tall in the face of the challenges of the plays required of a first baseman. Lucas Phillips reached base three times and scored twice showing composure and a great eye at the plate. Rory Bakke reached base all four times in the first game and scored three times, once on a double-steal from third when Chisholm tried to throw out Owen stealing second. Rory also put down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to advance Frankie in the sixth inning of the second game. Owen reached base four times, stole two bases, and scored twice on the day. Frankie Miller reached base three times, drove in a key run in the first game and scored.
Colin, Dylan, and Daniel hit the ball hard all day at key times, and Richie reached base three times and scored twice. Richie also made a spectacular catch in the deep left field corner to end the top of the fifth inning of the second game when Chisholm had runners all over the bases. Richie also finished game two behind the plate.
On Thursday afternoon, we were about to bag the Legion season due to the lack of older players. Daniel Wilson from Silver Bay, however, joined, and the younger players indicated that they would give it a go. Daniel convinced me on Thursday that if we had good pitching, we could compete. Realizing that our younger players have been working hard all spring and are continuing to practice well this summer, we thought it was worth a try.
Today, we are feeling good. This is a mixed group of players in terms of age and experience, but we are a baseball team. These guys are accountable for their mistakes, but they don’t hang their heads. They are enjoying playing and are learning quickly. This team is made up of the stars of the past, present, and future. We do have a few older horses in the barn, who are on the roster but were unable to play Saturday. Watch for their upcoming home games, they are fun to watch.
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