The Lion’s Roar / Heather Jewell
A member of the Lion baseball team dressed as Batman

The Lions baseball team came one step closer to the 2015 season with the start of the annual Fall World Series. Seniors from the team split up and drafted from the rest of the squad to form the teams “Backdoor Sliders” and “Shick Show.” 

The Fall World Series is a best-of-five series held every year to give the team a chance to have some fun and entertain fans. 

“The Fall World Series is always a shot in the arm for these guys,” said head coach Matt Riser. “It can get a little redundant playing each other over and over again with intrasquads going on. Once we get to this point, we get to see the guys compete, which is the best part of it.”

The first game of the Fall World Series took place last Wednesday, Oct. 29. 

Although this was one of the first times the teams have gotten to play in front of fans this season, both teams seemed at ease and ready to have a good time playing their fellow Lions. 

Starting on the mound for the Backdoor Sliders was senior Kyle Cedotal. Opposite Cedotal was junior Jake Johnson, a transfer out of Neosho County Committee College. 

It did not take long for Johnson to make his name known to the fans in attendance. The Oklahoma native pitched for six innings, allowing two runs and forcing six strikeouts. 

Scoring the first run of the Fall World Series was freshman Scottie Sanders, who was driven in by junior Jacob Seward.

Shick Show promptly answered the run from the Backdoor Sliders by scoring seven runs over the course of the next four innings. This offensive outburst shifted the momentum in Shick Show’s favor. The Backdoor Sliders made an effort for a comeback in the ninth inning, scoring two more runs to bring the deficit to within three, but they would ultimately fail. After nine innings, Shick Show defeated the Backdoor Sliders 7-4.

Riser was happy with the first game of the Fall World Series.

“It’s really good to see the guys get out and compete,” said Riser. “I saw some things from both teams that need to be worked on, but from a competitive standpoint, we did well.”

Earning the win was Johnson while Cedotal was credited with the loss. Johnson was particularly thankful for the defense from Shick Show in helping make his first appearance in Hammond a successful one.

“It is good to have a great defense behind you,” said Johnson. “I just went out there and tried to get ahead and put the pressure on them.”

Game two of the series was held Oct. 31. Game two featured both teams dressing up in costumes to join in on the Halloween spirit. After sending four pitchers to the mound, Shick Show shut out the Backdoor Sliders to take the victory in game two of the series. Getting the win for Shick Show was another new transfer, junior Domenick Carlini IV. Suffering the loss for the Backdoor Sliders was freshman Noah Perry.

Having only scored four runs in 18 innings of play during the Fall World Series, the Backdoor Sliders looked to open up game three with plenty of offense if they wanted to take charge of the series momentum. They did just that by being the first onto the scoreboard when Jacob Williams’ double brought Brett Hoffman in for a score. Another run in the top of the fourth inning gave hope that the tide may be turning for the Sliders, but that all came to an end over the next two innings. Shick Show put up five runs in innings four and five, respectively, and added one more insurance run in the seventh en route to a 6-2 victory in game three. 

Earning the win for Shick Show was freshman Mac Sceroler while junior Gabe Von Rosenberg was credited with the loss. 

Despite Shick Show having already won the series, both squads will continue to play out the remainder of the Fall World Series. A schedule of the remaining games this fall and a Spring schedule can be found on lionsports.net.

The Lion’s Roar / Heather Jewell
On Halloween and game two of the Fall World Series, the Lions baseball team donned a variety of costumes on the field in order to show their holiday spirit.  After three games played, Shick Show has outscored the Backdoor Sliders 16-6.