By Dan McGrath

The “second season” begins for the Leo baseball team on Thursday, May 28, and the Lions are shooting for better results than they achieved in the regular season.

Leo, the No. 10 seed in the IHSA Class 3-A Brooks Sectional, will face No. 7 seed Morgan Park in a semifinal of the Marian Catholic Regional in Chicago Heights. Game time is 4:30 p.m. 

Host Marian Catholic, the No. 2 seed, faces 15th-seeded Thornridge in the other semifinal on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 11 a.m. for the regional title and a berth in the following week’s Brooks Sectional, where St. Rita is the top seed. 

Morgan Park finished 7-6 in the Public League’s Jackie Robinson South Division. The Mustangs’ 13-14 overall record includes an 8-6 victory over Leo back on March 27.

“Typical of our season,” Coach Mike Anderson said. “Errors, mistakes …. one bad inning did us in.”

Leo can be said to have experienced a roller-coaster season if the ‘coaster in question featured more downs than ups. The Lions went 3-11 in the Catholic League White Division and 5-21 overall, though in fairness, several of the top players also were members of the world-renowned Leo Choir. Their Choir commitments left the team short-handed for many practices and a handful of games.

“I’m not making excuses, but it was tough to keep a cohesive group together,” Anderson said.

Senior infielder Derrick Davis (pictured above) is the Lions’ leading hitter with a .366 batting average and 22 stolen bases. Fellow senior Devin Vassel batted .356, followed by senior Eddie Hernandez at .282. Davis is also Leo’s most effective pitcher with a 4.20 earned-run average and 34 strikeouts.

Morgan Park has a double threat similar to Davis in Gabriel Toussant, who led the Mustangs with a .364 batting average while going 2-1 with a 2.59 ERA on the mound. Jacque Lewis batted .325 and Gabriel Ramirez .319, while Keenan Harrell was the No. 2 starter with a 2-1 record and a 2.77 ERA.

The other semifinal looks like a mismatch: Marian Catholic is 18-16 overall and 5-11 in the always competitive East Suburban Catholic Conference, while Thornridge is 3-18 overall and 2-14 in the Southland.

Leo honored its seven seniors with a Senior Night celebration before a May 11 game with De La Salle at the Kroc Center. Davis, Vassel, Hernandez, Michael Lewis, Tyshawn Brown, Joshua Richards and Justin Sandoval were recognized. The Meteors didn’t cooperate and put it to the Lions, 13-0.

“The playoffs mean a fresh start,” Anderson said. “We’ll try to take advantage.”