Daniel Coyle provides on mound, at plate as St
The bat. The ball. St. Laurence baseball history. Daniel Coyle wanted it
all in his hands. The junior infielder had actually not pitched in the playoffs. However he was sent out to the mound Saturday with the very first state championship in program history on the line. He would not have had it any other method.
“I was a bit nervous that they would not offer me it, but I wanted it so bad,” Coyle said. “I wanted to finish it. I wished to bring it home for coach Pete (Lotus) and coach Adam (Lotus).”
Coyle then headed out and delivered, making the pitching win and supplying the go-ahead RBI double in the 6th inning as the Vikings beat Benet 8-5 in the Class 3A state championship game at Appropriately Health and Care Field in Joliet.
South Suburban College devote Enrique Villanueva included 2 RBIs for St. Laurence (37-5), while Adrian Perez, SSC recruit Ben Geary and Orlando Vazquez each went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
It’s the 3rd group state champion across all sports for the Vikings, together with a Class 5A football title in 1976 and a Class AA state title in young boys battling in the 1989-90 season.
“I could not imagine it better myself,” Coyle stated. “I love it. I live for that type of things.
“It simply feels good to bring one home finally.”
St. Laurence’s Daniel Coyle (1) tosses a pitch against Benet during the Class 3A state national championship at Duly and Health Care Field in Joliet
on Saturday, June 14, 2025.( Troy Stolt/ Daily Southtown)Down 5-2 after three innings, Benet(27-13) rallied and forced a 5-5 tie in the fifth as Josh Gugora came through with an RBI double off Coyle.
Coyle didn’t have to wait long for redemption. In the top of the 6th, he developed a runner on 2nd and ripped an RBI double into left field.”I knew I was going to do some damage,”Coyle stated. “He was leaving his slider up.
I saw it up, I simply pieced it. That’s all I can do. It felt fantastic.” Having the bat in my hands in that situation, it’s remarkable.”
Coyle enabled one operate on three hits and started out 4 over the final three innings.
He hadn’t pitched in the playoffs and hadn’t thrown three innings in an outing considering that an April 29 win over St. Rita, but his coaches were confident Coyle was the one to make history take place.
St. Laurence’s Cory Les (6)tags out Benet’s Dominik Tomala (34)during the Class 3A state national championship at Appropriately and Healthcare Field in Joliet on Saturday, June 14
, 2025.(Troy Stolt/ Daily Southtown)”He is among the toughest kids,” Pete Lotus said of Coyle.”He’s never ever scared of the minute. We knew that when he was a freshman.
“The Vikings included 2 insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI single from Villanueva and a sacrifice fly from Danny Donovan. In in between, Donovan started a wonderful defensive sequence, making a strong toss from the warning track in right-center and hitting junior 2nd baseman Mickey Lotus, who tossed out Dominik Tomala at third on a would-be triple.
St. Laurence formerly had actually won 4 state prizes, including 3 under Pete Lotus, but had yet to grab the big one. Mickey Lotus, Pete’s child, was around for some of the near misses.
“I’ve always wished,” Mickey said. “I’ve always dreamed about playing in this game, particularly after enjoying them obviously not be successful. It’s so remarkable that we’re here.”
The Vikings had simply 3 seniors in their starting lineup. They entered the spring with a number of brand-new faces in prominent roles and lost their ace, Louisville recruit Joe Olson, with a season-ending injury before the season started.
St. Laurence’s Daniel Coyle (1) reacts after hitting an RBI double versus Benet during the Class 3A state championship game at Duly and Health Care Field in Joliet on Saturday
, June 14, 2025. (Troy Stolt/ Daily Southtown) Yet this was the St. Laurence group to lastly break through.
“We said from the start that people might count us out, but we’re not going to count ourselves out,” Pete Lotus said. “We’re simply going to think in each other.
“And I believe that’s what they did better than anybody was believe in each other.”
Everyone definitely had faith Saturday in Coyle.
“He’s constantly just been a pet dog,” Mickey Lotus stated of Coyle. “He’s constructed for those minutes. I was talking to him and he wanted the ball.
“He wanted it.”
Originally Released: June 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM CDT