Oak Park-River Forest head coach Chris Ledbetter thinks the world of junior Evan Bell, and that’s precisely why the skipper made an example of him against Andrean of Indiana on Saturday, May 23.
Ledbetter was mad at most of the Huskies for not being patient at the plate so he sat Bell — his No. 4 hitter and one of the team’s star players — right in the middle of the game.
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“I needed a guy who wasn’t going to take it personal,” Ledbetter said. “He took one for the team that day. He came back into the game after an inning and played hard. He plays hard every day. He doesn’t smile much, but he’s everything I want an Oak Park baseball player to look like. He doesn’t whine or complain, he just works hard.”
The Huskies won that game 3-1 and kept the momentum going in the OPRF Regional semifinals on Wednesday, May 27, by dismantling Leyden 14-0 in five innings.
Bell, a left fielder, pushed across the first run with a double in the first inning and the Huskies (28-7) cruised to the win over the Eagles (10-21).
“At first he just told me I was out and I didn’t know why,” Bell recalled of the benching. “But I didn’t argue with him. I understood I wasn’t getting the job done and when he told me later why he benched me it made sense. That was a wake-up call for everyone. If you don’t do what the team needs, there will be consequences.”
Bell has ridden a rocket the last 18 months. Even before he played an inning of varsity baseball, he was drawing interest from college recruiters
He caught the eye of Memphis with a strong performance in the Ho-Chunk showcase in Lynwood in January of 2014. He then was moved up to OPRF’s varsity during the playoffs in the spring.
After a terrific fall with his club team, Elite Baseball Training, Bell started getting pushed hard by Memphis and he visited the school in the winter. He wound up committing before this season.
“They offered me right before the season began and I accepted a day later,” Bell said. “When I went down there I knew that’s where I wanted to go. I really liked the head coach [Daron Schoenrock] and I like that they’re an up and coming team. They were ranked this year, they have really nice fields and a great academic program.
“It’s nice to get it out of the way too so I can focus on baseball.”
And Bell hopes to play a lot more baseball this spring.
“We want a state championship,” Bell said. “That’s something we talked about during the season. We’ve been playing well all year and we think 100 percent we can win a state championship this year.”
Notes
* Senior Chris Atwood pitched all five innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out five Leyden batters. He also helped his cause at the plate by driving in three runs.
“I just wanted to hit my spots and square up as many balls as I can at the plate,” Atwood said. “We came in pretty confident. We’re all in playoff mode and playing at a higher level than we normally do.”
* Junior Hank Christie is scheduled to take the mound in the regional championship game against the winner of the Thursday, May 28 regional semifinal game between Elk Grove and Maine West.
Valentin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.