Villa Park Slams Lakewood in Loara Tournament Final

Kirk McConchie’s eight-foot bunt single drove in the winning run, but Jeff Tuttle’s 370-foot grand slam was the exclamation point as Villa Park defeated Lakewood in 12 innings, 8-3, Saturday in the Loara baseball tournament final at Glover Stadium.

After Villa Park posted a dramatic seventh-inning comeback to send it to extra innings, the Spartans scored five runs in the top of the 12th.

With the score tied at 3, Scott Foley led off the 12th inning with an infield single and took second on a wild pitch. Sean Pritchett followed with another infield single that moved Foley to third.

McConchie, pinch hitting for Erik Averill, put down a suicide squeeze bunt with two strikes to score Foley and break the tie.

“I knew with two strikes I had to get it down,” McConchie said. “It was nerve-racking, but nice when I did it.”

Four batters later, Tuttle connected for his grand slam and turned a close game into a laugher.

Villa Park trailed, 3-0, going into the seventh, and 19 Spartan batters had been retired in order before Graham Ferguson connected for a home run in the seventh inning. Foley’s two-run double later in the inning sent the game into extra innings.

Averill and Tuttle combined for eight innings of scoreless relief, with Tuttle (1-0) picking up the victory with 1 2/3 innings of work.