GARY | Nick Bokun was locked in at the plate, and the Hobart cleanup hitter proved that he'd found the zone with the solid game he had with the bat.
Bokun paced Hobart with a 4-for-5 day that included a double and two RBIs as the Times No. 6 Brickies defeated Lowell, 12-4, in a RailCats High School Challenge game at U.S. Steel Yard.
Coming into the game, Bokun had the lowest batting average of any starter, so continuing the upward climb was a priority.
"It was huge," Bokun said. "As a team, we're trying to just see the ball, hit the ball. I was just relaxed, that was it."
Though Bokun is a sophomore, coach Bob Glover Jr. is confident he'll continue having performances like this.
"Nick is a tremendous young player," he said. "In the last week or so, he's been hot. I think we can expect more of that out of him the rest of the year. He's a strong player, and his overall numbers might not reflect his true level of talent right now."
With Hobart (13-3, 2-2 NCC) clinging to a 6-4 lead going into the top of the seventh inning, the Brickies broke the game open with a six-run frame, sending 11 batters to the plate in the process.
With everything seemingly going Hobart's way on both sides of the ball early on, the Red Devils (3-8, 2-3) weren't able to mount a significant rally until the bottom of the fifth inning, with two runs after pinch hitter Dan Garza laced a single to center field to score Mike Hilbrich and Tyler Hamm.
The Brickies didn't waste any time showcasing their offense with four runs in the top of the first inning to set the pace of the game. In the inning, Bokun connected on a two-run single to start the damage before Chris Moore's RBI single and Guy Birchel's sacrifice fly capped the scoring for the inning.
"We got off to a slow start and walks killed us," Lowell coach Bobby Wong said. "We just put way too many guys on base. They got hits when they needed to and brought runners in. We helped them out and they capitalized."
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