On late spring nights, fans gather their blankets and bundle up for the beginning of the season. Coming off a regional championship last year, the varsity baseball team received their second win by beating the ninth best team in the state, Mt. Carmel, to improve a 2-6 record.

On March 24, Lane won a major game against state competitor, Mt. Carmel by a score of 4-1. Rigel Verciglio, Div. 950, started on the mound, pitching five innings and only giving up one run. Anthony Guy came in to close the game and shut down Mt. Carmel, recording the last six outs.

“It was a great team effort and we had some guys step up in big situations off the bench, as we were missing two of our best players,” Verciglio said.“Beating the number nine team in state shows we can compete with anyone.”

Johnny Colombo led the Indians with a single in the third inning. Gabe Montenegro drew a walk resulting in a run and an error made by Mt. Carmel lead to the victory.

Starting shortstop Colombo led the offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate and driving in two runs, along with Caleb Berry, Div. 060, and Montenegro, with one RBI each.

According to Louis Perona, Div. 068, teams such as Mt. Carmel, who are strong competitors in the state playoffs, carry a different game environment.

“City schools like Lakeview and Payton, being public schools, there may be more of a rivalry because we’re all city schools,” Perona said. “With schools like Mt. Carmel and St. Rita, we play with a chip on our shoulder because they do not give us the respect we deserve as competitors.”

The victory over Mt. Carmel added to their win against Maine South after a doubleheader on March 23.

Montenegro was credited with the loss for the first game against Maine South after pitching five innings and giving up two runs. Lane’s offense struggled as the team scored a single run with only three hits costing them their loss with a score of 2-1.

Lane seized the lead late in the second game in an 8-4 victory. Matt Wong was credited with the win with help from fellow pitchers Tibe Rwakatare and Griffin Polett.

Bailey Futch, Nick Goss, Tyreece Morgan, Josh Aguniga, Perona and Wong each collected one hit to win the game according to GameChanger.

After a successful opening game against Evanston, Lane fell into a slump, losing against Warren Township, Lake Forest and New Trier.

The busy opening week scheduled six games in seven days including games against New Trier and Mt. Carmel, with both teams ranked in the state’s top 25 teams, according to Prep Baseball Report.

Perona tried to put the losses in perspective and remained optimistic about the team’s ability to improve for the future.

“We are still figuring out playing together because it’s the first couple games and chemistry is still developing, but I feel like there’s a lot of talent that has been shown and potential to succeed as a team,” Perona said.

On March 21, Declan Keating and Polett had their varsity debuts against Lake Forest, when the team was shut out 12-0.

On March 20, New Trier took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning after an error by Lane. The team’s offense could not score any more runs resulting in a suffered loss.

On March 19, Jacob Delatorre threw five strong innings against Warren, holding them to only one run. Lane held a lead until the top of the seventh inning when Warren tied the game on two errors. After tying the game, Warren went on to score two more runs in an extra inning and won 5-3.

Team manager, Juliana Martinez-Lopez, Div. 979, gave input about the pressure and strategy that follows each season.

“As regional champions, the boys have a lot more at stake keeping up their school of champs motto. There is also a handful of players who moved up from sophomore to varsity which means there is a lot to learn,” Martinez-Lopez said.

The team’s next game falls against Lincoln Park at Oz Park on April 1 at 7:30 p.m.