Adrian Perez has been here before, which helps.
After playing varsity baseball as a sophomore last spring, Perez has become one of the foundational pieces in the Vikings’ lineup.
In St. Laurence’s 10-1 victory over Lemont in Do it Stevie’s Way Tournament final at Ozinga Field in Crestwood on May 24, he had two hits and drove in three runs to back the pitching of Jimmy Benson.
The night before, St. Laurence avenged two earlier losses to Brother Rice by knocking off the Crusaders 8-3 in the semfiinals.
“I feel like I play the game with a lot of heart and this means a lot to me,” Perez said. “I play the game for my team and I put my team first. I love to play the game like that.
“By being up on the varsity last year, I was able to develop my game. I saw a lot of pitches and pitchers last year and because of that, that makes the game a lot easier.”
For St. Laurence (29-5), this was its first win in the championship game of the Bajenski Tournament in four appearances. Along with Perez, Ben Geary and Mickey Lotus (two RBIs apiece), Cory Les (three runs) and Connor Marino (two runs) also contributed offensively.
“Adrian has meant a great deal to us,” Vikings coach Pete Lotus said. “He came up to the varsity last year and he was successful.
“We put him in the middle of the lineup and that has helped his confidence this year. He’s really been a leader and he seems to have a knack for coming through for us.”
Benson (8-1) pitched a complete game, allowing one run on six hits while striking out five and walking two.
The Vikings started the scoring with three runs in the top of the first inning as Marino scored on a wild pitch, and Perez and Geary hit sacrifice flies.
St. Laurence added single runs in the second inning (Lotus’ RBI groundout) and third inning (Geary’s RBI fielder’s choice). The Vikings widened their advantage to 9-0 in the fourth on RBI groundouts by Lotus and Daniel Coyle and RBI singles from Perez and Orlando Vazquez.
The Vikings concluded the scoring with a single run in the sixth inning as Perez singled home Les.
“My teammates do a great job of getting on base for me,” Perez said. “And that gives me an opportunity to drive them in.
“I have an ability to put the bat to the ball. I work on that all the time.”