BY KEN RYAN Link to Article
Manager Gary Spevak thought his Oak Brook Agentis Energy Little League baseball team had a chance to be pretty good this season.
He never expected what transpired.
Agentis Energy won the Oak Brook-Westmont Youth Baseball Association 10-12-year-old championship with a 22-0 record.
“We won it all last year, but we weren’t undefeated,” said Spevak, who received coaching help from Jerry Ryan and Jim Willett. “I thought our team would be OK this season, but I think what they did went beyond most people’s expectations, certainly mine.”
Agentis Energy finished the regular season with an 18-0 record and then won four playoff games to become what is believed to be the first Oak Brook team to finish a season with a perfect record.
Oak Brook knocked off Westmont 4-3 in the semifinals and 5-4 in the championship game on July 1.
“The kids really worked hard and it was great seeing them all come together,” said Spevak, who enjoyed his first Gatorade shower after the win courtesy of his players. “I’ve been coaching a long time and I haven’t seen a group of 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds work so hard and just love to practice and play the game. They were great kids with great parents and there were no bad attitudes.”
Westmont (18-4), whose only losses this season came against Oak Brook, put up a fight in both games but came up short.
Oak Brook’s offense was led by Leo Ryan, Alyssa Sclafani and Zach Spevak, who combined to make just two outs the entire playoffs.
In the championship game, Ethan Willett entered the game with the bases loaded, nobody out and his team clinging to a 5-4 lead. He proceeded to strike out the next three batters to earn the pressure-packed save.
Max Hanzlik, Spevak and Rishi Karamchandani all made key defensive plays, and Ryan turned in a solid pitching effort. Yeoryios Christos, Parker Dow, Quinn Kanagy, Suraj Khatau, John Stojka and Michael Sclafani also contributed to the championship.
“We had some exciting games for the kids and Little League,” Gary Spevak said. “I was very fortunate to have such a good bunch of kids.”
