[Preview of my story this week in the Inside-Booster.]
By Jack Lydon
Lane Tech is on a roll. The Champions (16-4, 8-0) defeated the Maine South Hawks (11-9, 4-2) 5-0 at Kerry Wood Cubs Field Saturday afternoon. Fifteen straight wins for the Champions after a rocky 1-4 start to the 2026 campaign.
Champion’s sophomore right-handed pitcher Dodger Friedrich tossed a gem of a game against Maine South. Six innings, 79 pitches, 52 strikes, 6 strike-outs, one walk, one hit and no runs. Friedrich improves his record to four and two on the season.
“In the first inning, I had a little bit of adrenaline. I was excited to be there. In the second and third innings, I found my stuff a little better. I settled in and was able to cruise more,” said Dodger Friedrich, a Ukrainian Village resident.
Lane opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Catcher Jacob DeVinney was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a walk to Conor Sullivan. With two outs, DeVinney scored from second on a ground ball to first base after the double play attempt failed. Nice manufacture of a run with no hits.
It was a tense 1-0 game until the Champions broke it open with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on three hits including a triple by shortstop Paris Head, a single by Eric Acevedo and a double by Tanner Toback.
“I am glad [Friedrich] is pitching with some fire. We talked about [Maine South] knocked us out of the state playoffs last year. It was tight well pitched ballgame on both sides. I am super proud of Dodger [Friedrich]. He just keeps getting better. Not only the pitching or the strike throwing but also covering first base, holding runners, picking guys off,” said Lane Tech head coach Sean Freeman.
“We have a lot of good hitters especially at the top of the order. That was a big swing by Paris [Head in the bottom of the fifth inning]. He drove that through the wind. And then Eric Acevedo came through with a big hit. A lot of clutch hits, with two outs and guys in [scoring] position. I am super happy. We have been working hard on situational hitting,” Freeman added.
“We had a young talented team last year that had a lot of success. We had a really good group from our JV coming up. So I knew we were going to be really talented this year. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take us to mesh into a team and figure out who was doing what.”
The sky is the limit for this Lane team. They are undefeated in the Chicago Public League. They have only lost twice to in-state teams: Libertyville, the reigning 4A champs and Mount Carmel, a top Chicago Catholic League team. Those were the first two games of the year.
The next hurtle for the Champions is the CPL City Championship with the Championship Game at Wrigley Field on May 21.
“I am very excited [for the City playoffs]. Hopefully we can get back to Wrigley. I have never played there. It would be awesome to start at Wrigley,” said Dodger Friedrich.
With the Champions on this roll, he may well get his chance.
